Multinational consumer goods company Reckitt Benckiser Group plc has refuted accusations of tax avoidance made against it in a recent report by Oxfam. However, to prove its tax-transparent credentials, it will consult with Oxfam prior to publishing its UK tax strategy document in December.
The Oxfam report, ‘Making tax vanish’, claimed that the company’s decision in 2012 to create regional hubs in the Netherlands, Singapore and Dubai was motivated principally by tax avoidance. Reckitt Benckiser responded that the reason for this arrangement was the ‘desire to ensure that our business was organised to be close to our customers and consumers by combining geographies’ in locations important to its business operations.
Furthermore, Reckitt Benckiser says it ‘supports the call on governments to take the necessary steps to accelerate public country by country reporting (CBCR) and to create a level playing field for all businesses, irrespective of where they are headquartered’. The company would like to see the UK government ‘play a leading role’ in this process.
The EU Parliament is currently struggling to muster a sufficient majority of votes to take forward public CBCR, while the UK government is waiting for international agreement before introducing a requirement for multinationals to include CBCR in their published UK tax strategy documents.
Multinational consumer goods company Reckitt Benckiser Group plc has refuted accusations of tax avoidance made against it in a recent report by Oxfam. However, to prove its tax-transparent credentials, it will consult with Oxfam prior to publishing its UK tax strategy document in December.
The Oxfam report, ‘Making tax vanish’, claimed that the company’s decision in 2012 to create regional hubs in the Netherlands, Singapore and Dubai was motivated principally by tax avoidance. Reckitt Benckiser responded that the reason for this arrangement was the ‘desire to ensure that our business was organised to be close to our customers and consumers by combining geographies’ in locations important to its business operations.
Furthermore, Reckitt Benckiser says it ‘supports the call on governments to take the necessary steps to accelerate public country by country reporting (CBCR) and to create a level playing field for all businesses, irrespective of where they are headquartered’. The company would like to see the UK government ‘play a leading role’ in this process.
The EU Parliament is currently struggling to muster a sufficient majority of votes to take forward public CBCR, while the UK government is waiting for international agreement before introducing a requirement for multinationals to include CBCR in their published UK tax strategy documents.
