GlobeNewswire·Jul 30, 2026, 10:05 AM ET

New Vertex Research Signals a Turning Point for Indirect Tax and Compliance: The Rise of Decision-to-Defense

VERX

Vertex, Inc. released new research in July 2026 identifying a structural shift where indirect tax has evolved from back-office calculations into a real-time, board-level discipline termed Decision-to-Defense.
The research highlights two compounding forces: Defensibility Drift, defined as the widening gap between transaction decisions and the ability to prove outcomes globally, with 58% of enterprises facing complex audits; & CompOps Drag, describing the operational costs & integration friction caused by fragmented systems, where only 12% have achieved full end-to-end system integration.
These forces create a Compliance Confidence Gap, estimated to cost 1 in 3 US enterprises over $1M annually in lost revenue due to conservative reporting, missed exemptions, & unclaimed taxes.
Vertex defines the Decision-to-Defense approach through four operational pillars: Determine (real-time calculation), Prove (audit-defensible sources), Defend (audit readiness), & Improve (continuous learning), all coordinated by Govern.
The findings are based on surveys of over 2,100 senior enterprise decision-makers conducted in 2026 by Emerald Research Group & Censuswide across the US, Europe, & other global regions.
Allison Cerra, Vertex's Chief Marketing Officer, stated that the current challenge is a control problem regarding disjointed systems rather than a tooling issue.
Tammy Kaneshige, CEO of Emerald Research Group, noted that organizations leading the next decade will be those treating compliance as a continuous lifecycle rather than disconnected steps.
Vertex serves more than 60% of the Fortune 500 & provides solutions covering the full transaction lifecycle from tax determination & e-invoicing through reporting, filing, & audit defense.