Navigating the rapidly changing landscape of tax law | Wim Wuyts, CEO of WTS Global

In this episode of Tax Leaders Unplugged, host Stevi Frooninckx is joined by Wim Wuyts, CEO and Managing Director of WTS Global, a global tax advisory firm.  With a career spanning over two decades, much of it working in-house in renowned companies, including Levi Strauss and Bekaert, he has been recognized by International Tax Review as one of the top 50 tax professional thought leaders. In today’s conversation, we discuss: 

• How seemingly unrelated side projects enhance your perspective as a tax professional

• Differences between advising and in-house work

• The key issues in-house tax professionals and leaders are facing in this rapidly changing world

• Wim's framework for optimizing budget allocation in tax departments

• And much more

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Where to find Wim Wuyts:

X: https://twitter.com/wuytsw

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wim-wuyts-1a30455/

Where To Find Stevi Frooninckx:

X: https://twitter.com/stevi_f

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevifrooninckx

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In this episode, we cover: 

(03:23) Welcome Wim Wuyts

(03:55) How all of Wim’s activities are interconnected 

(06:32) About Wim’s art installation project, L.arena and how it is connected to his other work

(08:41) How Wim’s side projects give him insights he applies to the tax profession

(12:58) Why Wim left in-house tax to go back to global tax advisory 

(17:13) The differences between in-house work and advising 

(19:36) Common struggles in-house tax professionals are facing

(23:54) Wim’s simple framework for determining the right budget for your organization

(25:50) A holistic picture of what companies may need to invest in, including sustainability 

(31:51) Behind Wim’s statement “making a sustainable impact in a chaotic tax world”

(35:38) How to prepare for the rapidly changing world

(37:57) WTS Global’s tax sustainability index 

(42:33) Why environmental tax responsibility should fall on the in-house tax team

(46:50) Wim’s final advice to tax professionals 

(49:14) When tax professionals should take ownership of related business functions

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Referenced:

WTS: https://wts.com/global

Levi Strauss: https://www.levistrauss.com/

Bekaert: https://www.bekaert.com/en/

Arthur Andersen: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Andersen

Brussels-Africa Hub: https://www.brusselsafricahub.eu/

L.Arena: https://www.linkedin.com/company/l-arena-an-art-installation-in-venice/

An explanation of agile methodology: https://www.agilealliance.org/agile101/

WTS Global and its member firm in the UK, FTI Consulting, have co-created the first Tax Sustainability Index of its kind: https://wts.com/global/publishing-article/20231013-tax-sustainability-index~publishing-article