How do tax disputes and audits create cash and reputational risk, and how should I triage them?

Tax-dispute risk is the exposure that arises when a tax authority challenges your positions through audit, assessment or investigation, creating demands for cash, interest and penalties alongside reputational exposure.

Boards should care because tax disputes can be large, slow and public, and an unexpected assessment can crystallise a liability that distorts cash planning and unsettles stakeholders.

This report explains how tax-controversy risk is assessed in your chosen jurisdiction and industry, the indicators that an enquiry is escalating, the scenarios that turn a routine audit into a serious dispute, the realistic impact ranges, and the triage and mitigation steps available.

It also sets out when to engage tax counsel, advisers and specialists, framed as research to inform handling of tax exposure rather than as advice on any specific filing position.