Mark Taylor
Tax Director, Duncan and Toplis
Why tax certainty matters for international expansion
September 4, 2026
Tax certainty is becoming just as important as tax rates for businesses deciding where to invest and expand internationally. A competitive corporate tax rate may make a market attractive on paper, but businesses also need confidence that they can predict their tax and compliance costs over the lifetime of an investment.
That is the issue explored by Mark Taylor, Chair of the Kreston Global Tax Group and Tax Director and Head of International at Duncan & Toplis, a Kinbrook Group company, in a new article for Bloomberg Tax.
Drawing on findings from Kreston Global’s 2026 Interpreneur Report, Mark highlights a shift in what businesses value when assessing international markets. The research, based on 1,100 leaders of mid-market businesses that have expanded internationally, found that 39% now identify favourable tax policies as a factor making a country attractive for expansion, up from 33% in 2024. Meanwhile, 36% cite a transparent regulatory environment, compared with 28% two years earlier.
For businesses, the real tax cost of international expansion extends well beyond the headline corporate rate. Transfer pricing, withholding taxes, indirect taxes, customs duties, incentives and reporting requirements all need to be considered, alongside increasingly complex international frameworks such as OECD Pillar Two.
Tax certainty is also closely connected to trade and geopolitical risk. Kreston Global’s research found that 57% of respondents said tariffs or trade disputes had significantly affected their global strategy over the previous one to two years.
Yet international ambition remains strong. Some 86% expect conditions for international business expansion to become more favourable over the next two to three years.
Mark’s conclusion is not that tax complexity should discourage international growth. Instead, businesses should make tax and regulatory certainty part of the investment decision from the outset, assessing not only what they are likely to pay today, but how predictable that position will remain in the years ahead.
