How NN Group’s 14-Person Tax Team Manages €1.3B in Tax Contributions

Peter Paul Boon, Global Director Group Tax at NN Group, joins Tax Leaders Unplugged podcast to discuss how a 14-person tax team manages tax strategy and compliance for a multinational insurer with 19,000 employees.

In this episode, he shares:

- Why NN Group prioritizes strategy over technical tax knowledge

- How to scale a tax function without increasing headcount

- The 80/20 rule of tax leadership—why tax is mostly a business function

- How NN Group trained non-tax teams to take accountability for tax risks

- Why NN Group publishes a Total Tax Contribution Report—and how it -changed their governance approach

Key Insights & Learnings

✔ Tax is 80% business understanding, 20% technical knowledge

"Most business leaders don’t care about tax memos. They need solutions, not explanations."

✔ Train your tax team to speak business, not tax

"If you can explain tax to an 8-year-old, you can explain it to your CFO."

✔ Decentralize tax responsibility across the company

"With 19,000 employees, tax risks can’t sit with 14 people. We train the business to take ownership."

✔ Be transparent: Why NN Group publishes its tax contribution report

"We started tracking our total tax contribution internally in 2013. Now, it’s a public report and a governance benchmark."

✔ The secret to influencing the CFO: Speak in cash impact, not regulations

"Your CFO doesn’t want surprises. Show them the numbers and the risks—without the jargon."

📍 Full conversation breakdown:

[00:00:00] Introduction – Peter Paul Boon’s journey from Dutch tax authorities to in-house tax leadership

[00:01:42] Why NN Group’s tax team is deeply involved in social innovation and financial literacy programs

[00:04:40] The Tax Elevator Pitch Test – Why explaining tax to an 8-year-old is the best stakeholder training

[00:05:28] Why Peter Paul Boon has stayed at NN Group for 25+ years and how he’s kept the job interesting

[00:08:54] Encouraging tax team members to rotate into other roles in the business

[00:09:54] How long does it take to reach full speed in an in-house tax role?

[00:11:36] The 80/20 rule – Why tax leadership is 80% business, 20% technical knowledge

[00:13:33] The difference between advisory tax work vs. in-house tax leadership

[00:19:00] How NN Group trains 19,000 employees to be tax-aware without overwhelming them

[00:20:36] 14 people managing tax for 19,000 employees – How they make it work

[00:22:13] Why tax teams should bring solutions, not problems – making tax advice business-friendly

[00:25:06] Letting Other People Do the Work (LOPDTW): How NN Group decentralizes tax risk

[00:26:31] How to make tax the co-responsibility of the entire organization

[00:29:03] How NN Group trains its tax team beyond technical knowledge

[00:31:17] The CFO-Tax Relationship – How to communicate risk and value

[00:34:21] Why tax teams should stop doing recurring compliance work

[00:35:40] How NN Group absorbed Pillar Two compliance without hiring more staff

[00:37:01] What Peter Paul Boon looks for when hiring: Eagerness, creativity, and being a team player

[00:39:10] Total Tax Contribution Reports – Why NN Group made tax transparency a priority

[00:47:00] Why NN Group started tracking total tax contribution internally in 2013

[00:51:05] Final advice: Be creative. Challenge everything. Think bigger.