DBT Bureau
Pune, 12 April 2025
PwC has expanded its global strategic alliance with Google Cloud as part of a multi-year agreement to advance tax compliance services. The pioneering agreement, spanning the next five years, includes options to increase investment based on market demand.
The collaboration will focus on rapid innovation combining Google Cloud’s strengths in data, cloud, and AI, with PwC’s tax, risk, and regulatory capabilities. The goal is to enable data-led, trusted, connected, and agile reporting, that is fit for the future. The collaboration will leverage Google Cloud’s broad AI and agentic AI abilities to increase the value that heads of Tax and Finance functions can deliver to their stakeholders. Several joint programs, such as recurring regional events, are being established to proactively find and produce high-impact solutions to common client challenges.
Specifically, the collaboration builds on the existing Tax Control Centre collaboration – now known as Data controls engine – a solution developed and launched to enhance the delivery of Connected Tax Compliance globally. The solution provides real-time visibility into tax and finance data quality via control checks, exceptions testing, and reconciliations.
Data controls engine leverages the latest in Google’s AI technology, including a brand-new AI agent from PwC for Tax focused on exception validation. This is underpinned by an innovative suite of client-determined procedures that are tiered in accordance with their risk and materiality. The tiered system allows clients to refine and flex their tax operating model to focus on what matters most, and to strengthen and systematically operationalise their tax risk management and governance frameworks and embed this into their day-to-day compliance processes. Clients are finding this not only enhances trust in their finance and tax reporting but can also help to drive automation and efficiency savings.
Additionally, as more tax authorities shift toward data-intensive Pillar Two and e-reporting compliance models, PwC will work with Google Cloud to embed a specific and systematic set of agreed-upon tax data procedures to provide clients with a structured way of obtaining assurance over the quality, completeness, and accuracy of not only existing data but the broader data sets that are needed for new areas of compliance. This will empower tax departments with analytics to help control their data in their cloud environment and provide assurance over the quality, completeness, and accuracy of tax data both now and in the future.
The modular approach of Data controls engine will allow organisations to ‘plug and play’ the data controls and reporting functionality relevant to them and to consume tax data and controls monitoring services as part of an in-house tax compliance function, part of PwC’s Connected Tax Compliance outsourcing services suite or under a hybrid delivery model. As regulatory environments become more complex, organisations can add additional modules and controls functionality to ensure they stay ahead of reporting requirements.
Brad Silver, Global Tax & Legal Services Leader, PwC said: “We are pleased to announce our alliance with Google Cloud, which represents a significant step forward in transforming tax compliance services for our clients globally. By leveraging Google Cloud’s cutting-edge technology and PwC’s deep knowledge in tax, risk, and regulatory matters, we are confident that this collaboration will deliver unparalleled efficiency and innovation. Our joint efforts will empower clients with advanced tax data controls, seamless compliance solutions, and a structured approach to ensuring the quality and accuracy of tax data using innovative AI and agentic AI capabilities.”
Yateendar Bollini, Director, Global Consulting Partnerships at Google Cloud said: “At Google Cloud, we’re excited to deepen our collaboration with PwC to drive innovation in tax compliance. By harnessing the power of our AI, agents, and data capabilities, we aim to empower organisations to navigate complex regulatory environments with confidence and agility, unlocking significant value for their stakeholders.”
