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TAX TRANSPARENCY & TAX REPORTING

TXstream Tax Product Roadmap

Horizon
To be confirmed
Status
Draft — not yet reviewed
Last reviewed
Not yet reviewed
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Overview

TXstream Tax is Synthesis' regulatory tax reporting platform for financial institutions with complex domestic and international tax obligations. It brings together core tax reporting, tax transparency, dividends tax and tax-reference validation capabilities in one platform.

Our focus is to protect this regulatory depth while modernising the platform, improving configurability and operational efficiency, and creating a sustainable foundation for future growth.

One Platform. Four Core Capabilities.

  • Tax Reporting

    IT3 & Tax Certificates

    Domestic SARS third-party reporting across the full IT3 suite with integrated client tax certificate generation.

  • Tax Transparency

    FATCA · CRS · CARF

    International tax transparency obligations under US, OECD and crypto-asset reporting frameworks.

  • Dividend Withholding Tax

    DWT Processing & Reporting

    End-to-end DWT compliance including calculation, reporting, reconciliation and submission.

  • TIN Validation

    Tax Reference Validation

    Validate taxpayer reference numbers against SARS before reporting cycles begin to improve data quality.

Vision

To set the global standard for trusted, configurable and extensible regulatory tax reporting - giving financial institutions confidence in every obligation they fulfil.

Strategic Context

The forces reshaping regulatory reporting - and the TXstream Tax roadmap.

Regulators want more data, more often.

Clients want more value from the data they already have.

  • Regulatory Demand

    More data. More often.

    Reporting is becoming broader, more granular and more frequent - increasing the importance of data quality, traceability, automation and rapid regulatory change.

  • Client Expectations

    More value from regulatory data.

    Clients increasingly expect self-service, stronger reconciliation and operational visibility, and the ability to analyse regulatory data and derive actionable insight.

  • Technology Foundation

    Modernisation is now an enabler.

    The established platform provides deep regulatory capability, but its ageing technology foundation constrains maintainability, security, usability and the pace of future change.

  • Competitive Pressure

    Different competitors are attacking different parts of the value chain.

    Specialist tax solutions, administration platforms, data providers and internal builds are increasingly strong alternatives in specific areas of regulatory reporting.

  • Product Opportunity

    Move higher up the regulatory-data value chain.

    TXstream Tax can combine its regulatory depth with modern data, administration and analytical capability - evolving beyond submission toward a trusted regulatory-data platform.

What this means for TXstream Tax

Protect our regulatory depth while modernising the platform and moving higher up the regulatory-data value chain.

Competitor Landscape

A competitive market. Different approaches.

South African institutions have multiple ways to meet their SARS reporting obligations - from specialist tax solutions and administration platforms to data-led providers and internal builds. No single alternative mirrors the full breadth of TXstream Tax, but competitors are increasingly strong in specific parts of the value chain.

  • Singular Systems

    Direct tax competitor

    SARS tax calculation and submission capability delivered as software or a managed service.

    IT3 & DWT · Tax calculation · Managed service

    Known clients

    FNB

  • culminIT

    Tax & data specialist

    Specialist tax technology spanning complex tax calculation, reconciliation and data integration.

    DWT & CGT · Section 24J · Reconciliation · Data integration

    Known clients

    Momentum Metropolitan

  • FINWorks

    Investment administration platform

    Investment administration with embedded tax reporting, reconciliation, certificates and regulatory outputs.

    IT3 & DWT · Tax certificates · Reconciliation · AEOI · APIs

    Known clients

    Allan Gray · Boutique Collective Investments · etfSA

  • tCube (Zubat Nine)

    Investment administration platform

    Investment administration with regulatory reporting embedded close to the underlying investor process.

    IT3 · DWT · Insurance reporting · FATCA

  • InnDX

    Data & tax platform

    A verified institutional data layer supporting tax, regulatory outputs, downstream feeds and operational workflows.

    Data validation · Reconciliation · Tax administration · Regulatory outputs

    Known clients

    Coronation · Old Mutual Investment Group · Liberty · Sanlam Investments · STANLIB

  • Internal Development

    Build alternative

    Bespoke SARS reporting built around existing core systems, data platforms and internal engineering.

    Tailored solution · Existing data & systems · Full internal control

    Trade-offs Internal ownership of regulatory change, maintenance and technical debt.

Client references reflect a combination of publicly evidenced relationships and internal market intelligence.

The competitive threat is not one equivalent platform - it is multiple alternatives solving different parts of the problem well.

TXstream Tax's opportunity is to combine its regulatory breadth and South African domain depth with the modern data, administration and user experience clients increasingly expect.

Strategic Themes

Where we are choosing to focus.

These themes translate our product vision and strategic context into the areas where we will concentrate investment, discovery and delivery.

TXstream Tax

  • Trust

    Data Quality & Integrity

    Increase confidence in regulatory data through stronger validation, reconciliation and controls.

  • Evolve

    Client-Led Evolution

    Turn validated client needs into targeted improvements that strengthen workflows, usability and regulatory outcomes.

  • Expand

    Product Expansion

    Extend TXstream Tax through new regulatory modules, adjacent capabilities and separately licensable product features.

  • Modernise

    Platform Modernisation & Performance

    Modernise the technology foundation and improve performance, resilience and maintainability.

  • Automate

    AI & End-to-End Automation

    Apply AI and automation selectively to reduce effort, accelerate processing and improve regulated workflows.

Next 6 Months

Protect today. Build tomorrow.

Protect & Modernise

  • Java Upgrade

    Modernise the runtime foundation to improve security, supportability and future platform evolution.

  • Angular Upgrade

    Modernise the front-end foundation and establish the platform for the future TXstream Tax experience.

  • Role-Based Access & Operational Control

    Strengthen access, permissions and administrative control through a clearer role-based access model.

    • Role-based access
    • Access controls
    • Admin governance

  • UI/UX Modernisation

    Improve the TXstream Tax experience through clearer workflows, modernised interactions and client-led usability enhancements.

    • Workflow & usability
    • Client-led enhancements
    • Visual identity

  • Reconciliation & Data Insights

    Bring reconciliation, dashboards and actionable data insights into TXstream Tax to improve confidence and operational visibility.

    • In-app reconciliation
    • Dashboards & insights
    • Operational visibility

  • Engineering & Deployment Reliability

    Strengthen automated testing and deployment controls to improve pipeline reliability and confidence in every release.

    • Automated test reliability
    • CI/CD controls
    • Release confidence

Parallel workstream

Build Tomorrow

Next-Generation Product

Design the future TXstream Tax experience and prove it through the first bounded modern regulatory vertical.

Discover & Design
  • Product workshops
  • BRS / requirements
  • Future user journeys
  • Administrator-first UX
  • Technical options and dependencies
Prove
  • FATCA / CRS as the first vertical slice
  • Modern stack
  • Configurable rules and feeds
  • AI-enabled capability
  • Production-grade proof point
  • Client validation

Trusted Client Data View

Validate in Q4 2026

Validate the hypothesis that trusted regulatory tax data can become a reusable enterprise asset beyond regulatory submission.

Validation focus
  • Client demand
  • Priority use cases
  • Technical feasibility
  • Data governance / security
  • Commercial value

Decision gate

  • Proceed
  • Rework
  • Stop

Six-Month Roadmap

October 2026 — March 2027

Protect & Modernise

  • Java Upgrade

    Committed. In progress, continuing to Feb 2027. Milestone: Feb Release, Feb 2027.

  • Angular Upgrade

    Committed. In progress, continuing to Feb 2027. Milestone: Feb Release, Feb 2027.

  • Role-Based Access & Operational Control

    Committed. Oct 1, 2026 to Mar 31, 2027.

  • UI/UX Modernisation

    Committed. Oct 1, 2026 to Mar 31, 2027.

  • Engineering & Deployment Reliability

    Committed. Oct 1, 2026 to Mar 31, 2027.

Build Tomorrow

  • Next-Generation Product

    Discover & Design: Oct 2026 to Dec 2026. Prove: Jan 2027 to Mar 2027. Milestone: FATCA 2027 POC, Mar 2027. Proof of concept.

  • Trusted Client Data View

    Discovery. Oct 2026 to Dec 2026. Milestone: Dec Decision Gate, Dec 2026. Business Case + PRD complete. Decision options: Proceed, Rework, Stop.

Product Backlog

How product opportunities are assessed, prioritised and progressed into delivery.

From ideas to investment decisions

Product opportunities come from multiple sources — regulatory change, client feedback, development and support teams, product discovery, technical improvements and strategic opportunities. We maintain these as a living product backlog rather than treating the roadmap as a fixed list of features.

Each opportunity is assessed using a consistent weighted scoring model, creating an evidence-based starting point for prioritisation. Product and delivery leads then review the resulting order against regulatory urgency, client commitments, dependencies, capacity and new information before deciding what progresses.

Wide and shallow, narrowing to deep.

  1. 01 Explore

    Gather opportunities broadly from clients, regulators, support, development, product discovery, technical needs and strategic opportunities.

  2. 02 Create

    Consolidate, de-duplicate and turn raw ideas into coherent product opportunities.

  3. 03 Shape

    Assess value, feasibility and strategic fit; score opportunities; test assumptions; and determine which ideas warrant deeper investment.

  4. 04 Implement

    Progress selected opportunities into a validated business case, product definition and executable delivery plan.

Evidence-led prioritisation. Human judgement retained.

The scoring model creates a consistent baseline for comparing opportunities across regulatory, client, commercial, platform and delivery considerations. It informs prioritisation; it does not replace product judgement.

Strategic Business Value — 80%

  • Regulatory Compliance & Risk Reduction20%
  • Client Demand & Market Pull10%
  • Client Value & Experience15%
  • Data Integrity & Confidence15%
  • Operational Efficiency & Cost Reduction10%
  • Revenue / Commercial Opportunity5%
  • Strategic Platform Enablement5%

Delivery Considerations — 20%

  • Development Effort Score10%
  • Technical Complexity Score5%
  • Dependency Risk Score5%
How scoring works
Regulatory Compliance & Risk Reduction
1 = minimal; 5 = mandatory or materially reduces compliance/audit risk
Client Demand & Market Pull
1 = no identified demand; 5 = multiple strategic clients requesting it
Client Value & Experience
1 = low user impact; 5 = materially improves client workflow/adoption
Data Integrity & Confidence
1 = no data impact; 5 = materially improves reconciliation, validation or data confidence
Operational Efficiency & Cost Reduction
1 = no efficiency impact; 5 = materially reduces manual effort/OPEX
Revenue / Commercial Opportunity
1 = no revenue impact; 5 = unlocks module sales, retention or new market opportunity
Strategic Platform Enablement
1 = point fix; 5 = unlocks future platform or modular capability
Development Effort Score
1 = high FTE effort; 3 = medium; 5 = low effort
Technical Complexity Score
1 = high complexity; 3 = medium; 5 = low complexity
Dependency Risk Score
1 = many external dependencies; 3 = some; 5 = few/no dependencies

Score first. Review second. Commit deliberately.

The model creates consistency; planning judgement creates the final order.

Final sequencing also considers regulatory deadlines, material client commitments, dependencies, delivery capacity, new evidence and logical sequencing with work already underway.

From backlog to delivery

Discover & Assess Investment Decision Delivery

  1. 01 Source
  2. 02 Assess & Score
  3. 03 Review
  4. 04 Business Case
  5. 05 Go / No-Go — investment decision gate
  6. 06 PRD
  7. 07 Develop & Test
  8. 08 Release

What is currently next

24 opportunities currently assessed · ordered by calculated priority score

Backlog order is reviewed during planning and does not represent a committed delivery date.

Tax product backlog, ranked by calculated priority score
RankInitiativeThemeOverall scoreStrategic valueDelivery feasibilityPriority
1

RI-18

SARS Monthly Reporting Enhancements8697.540Tier 1 - Prioritise
2

RI-02

Enhanced usability / Data Quality8186.2560Tier 1 - Prioritise
3

RI-03

Continual Data Quality & Integrity Improvements8088.7545Tier 1 - Prioritise
4

RI-19

Enhanced usability / Governance7781.2560Tier 2 - Plan
5

RI-13

Enhanced usability / Operational Control7477.560Tier 2 - Plan
6

RI-14

Enhanced usability / Regulatory Agility7381.2540Tier 2 - Plan
7

RI-10

Platform Modernisation - Back End7178.7540Tier 2 - Plan
8

RI-11

Application Architecture7173.7560Tier 2 - Plan
9

RI-15

Enhanced usability7178.7540Tier 2 - Plan
10

RI-04

Data Storage & BI Reporting7072.560Tier 2 - Plan
11

RI-17

Platform modernisation - Back End7071.2565Tier 2 - Plan
12

RI-08

Regulatory Expansion6976.2540Tier 2 - Plan
13

RI-12

Platform modernisation - UI/UX6768.7560Tier 2 - Plan
14

RI-06

Application Architecture / SaaS6672.540Tier 2 - Plan
15

RI-25

Regulatory Compliance6667.560Tier 2 - Plan
16

RI-09

Platform modernisation - UI/UX646080Tier 3 - Consider
17

RI-05

Platform modernisation - UI/UX6362.565Tier 3 - Consider
18

RI-20

Platform Sustainability6367.545Tier 3 - Consider
19

RI-07

Application Architecture6267.540Tier 3 - Consider
20

RI-16

Data Products6267.540Tier 3 - Consider
21

RI-21

Platform Sustainability525060Tier 3 - Consider
22

RI-22

Regulatory Compliance525060Tier 3 - Consider
23

RI-23

Platform modernisation - Automation525060Tier 3 - Consider
24

RI-24

Regulatory Compliance525060Tier 3 - Consider

Backlog source: Tax_Backlog.xlsx

Product Documentation

A curated collection of product documentation is available below to strengthen product knowledge and support sales enablement. All documentation is maintained within the Synthesis SharePoint environment, providing a central source for the latest product materials.

TXstream Tax

Platform Documentation

  • Executive One-Pager

    Coming Soon

  • Product Document

    Coming Soon

Reporting Capabilities

  • IT3 Reporting

    SARS third-party data reporting.

    • Executive One-Pager

      Coming Soon

    • Product Document

      Coming Soon

  • FATCA

    FATCA tax transparency reporting.

  • CARF

    Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework reporting.

    • Executive One-Pager

      Coming Soon

    • Product Document

      Coming Soon

  • Dividend Withholding Tax (DWT)

    Dividend withholding tax processing and reporting.

    • Executive One-Pager

      Coming Soon

    • Product Document

      Coming Soon

Industry & Regulatory News

Roadmap content will be added in the next content increment.