Certainty ranks as highest priority for executives.

• Author: Ladd, Scott
• Position: TAX POLICY

When it comes to judging the value of tax reform, is it more important to financial leaders to achieve tax certainty or benefit from a tax rate reduction? Chief financial officers will opt for certainty more times than not, according to a new survey of executives on their perspectives and priorities with regard to tax competitiveness and reform by global tax consulting firm Alvarez & Marsal Taxand LLC (A&M).

The survey of more than 800 financial executives across the United States found that, when asked what one aspect of the tax code should be changed, most selected increasing stability and certainty in the system. That's not to say CFOs are averse to the idea of a reduction in the corporate tax rate, of course, as a means of assuring U.S. competitiveness.

But in a global economy dominated by financial jitters and a lack of predictability in the political and regulatory arenas, the survey found that most believe that certainty takes on greater significance.

"While the contentious debate over what proper tax re-form should look like drags on, there is no question about what is most important to the industry. For companies to plan, to invest, to create jobs and to grow, they must have certainty," says Robert N. Lowe, A&M's chief executive. "In fact, confidence in knowing precisely what the tax code will require has become more important than how much it will cost them."

"As our research reveals, as long as proposed changes remain up in the air, companies will be forced to continue to burn fuel operating in holding patterns rather than charting productive courses forward," says Lowe.

As part of their responses, a vast majority of financial executives said that tax considerations have a...