Wim Wuyts (WTS Global)

<p><i>How has the tax advice changed since Wim was a head of tax of a multinational company comparing to now when he is a head of a global advisory firm?</i></p><p>The conversation started with.. my beloved <i>John Grisham & The Firm</i>, of course. How the non-transparent world of the times of <i>The Firm</i> changed to substance-over-form, transparency and data leakage. This has transformed the needs to manage the tax risks within companies – from complex rules still possible to explain to concepts now (like a fair share and a general anti-avoidance debates) that are more reputation and common sense based. </p><p><i>Why tax?</i></p><p>That is exactly why Wim loves tax - because of its complexity and because its an international practice area. And tax is a premium place to learn about mechanics of a business – supply chain, funding, acquisition, operation. Just one conversation with a senior of a multinational company more than 25 years ago telling this truth inspired Wim to choose the profession. </p><p><i>Why Wim agreed to the interview?</i></p><p>On the same note Wim picks up why he likes the idea of <i>Tax Stories</i> podcast – with experienced people sharing their thoughts others might be as inspired as he was when being at the crossroads 25 years ago: “if there is just one person who just picks up one line of the podcast, I will be happy.”</p><p><i>“On a Journey. A vision of International Tax Management”</i><a href="#_ftn1"><i><strong>[1]</strong></i></a></p><p>It’s an old pilgrimage route to <i>Santiago de Compostella</i> that is described in the book together with Wim’s thoughts on tax management during that long journey. A nice dinner and chatting with friends and people met on the journey gave space to think broadly about the bigger questions that matter in everyone’s life. Also for me as an external advisor it was interesting to learn in the book what a head of tax of a large multinational firm is thinking about. </p><p><i>In-house vs. outsourcing</i></p><p>Being inhouse means to deal with risk manage