This sample audit report outlines the business process related to tax compliance and provides tips to help a Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) team report their findings. Example objectives include: document process flows and internal controls over financial reporting for the global tax compliance process, evaluate the adequacy of existing policies and procedures, and prepare a work program and plan for testing internal controls.

The following key observations were noted during the review:

• Review evidence that indicates a work paper review has taken place does not exist. The corporate tax director should sign off on the final work papers to indicate performance of the review.
• Procedures for monitoring the intercompany transfer pricing policy for cross-border transactions do not exist.
• The tax department retention policy is not consistent with the company’s record retention policy. The record retention policy needs to be updated to reflect the correct retention period for tax records.