In a development proclaimed by its organisers as ‘a huge breakthrough’, SSE plc became the first FTSE 100 company to be awarded the Fair Tax Mark – a ‘kite mark’ awarded to companies considered to be ‘open and transparent about their tax affairs and seek to pay the right amount of corporation tax at the right time in the right place’.
As part of obtaining the mark, and in order to meet the (current) Fair Tax Mark criteria, SSE plc is reported to have:
made pledges to reject the use of tax avoidance schemes and tax havens to reduce its liability to tax, and
become the first UK company to adopt ‘full’ country-by-country reporting, meeting the standards set by the OECD new guidelines for CBCR.
It is not yet clear what (if any) impact obtaining the Fair Tax Mark has commercially for SSE in its competition with the other big three energy providers and how its new tax policies are greeted by investors, or how quickly obtaining the Fair Tax Mark accreditation will be adopted as a goal by other major businesses. However, Christian Aid’s private sector adviser Matti Kohonen said: ‘This is an encouraging start. The criteria for the award helps guard those holding it from the kind of reputational damage a number of multinationals have experienced as a result of their tax dodging antics.’
In a development proclaimed by its organisers as ‘a huge breakthrough’, SSE plc became the first FTSE 100 company to be awarded the Fair Tax Mark – a ‘kite mark’ awarded to companies considered to be ‘open and transparent about their tax affairs and seek to pay the right amount of corporation tax at the right time in the right place’.
As part of obtaining the mark, and in order to meet the (current) Fair Tax Mark criteria, SSE plc is reported to have:
made pledges to reject the use of tax avoidance schemes and tax havens to reduce its liability to tax, and
become the first UK company to adopt ‘full’ country-by-country reporting, meeting the standards set by the OECD new guidelines for CBCR.
It is not yet clear what (if any) impact obtaining the Fair Tax Mark has commercially for SSE in its competition with the other big three energy providers and how its new tax policies are greeted by investors, or how quickly obtaining the Fair Tax Mark accreditation will be adopted as a goal by other major businesses. However, Christian Aid’s private sector adviser Matti Kohonen said: ‘This is an encouraging start. The criteria for the award helps guard those holding it from the kind of reputational damage a number of multinationals have experienced as a result of their tax dodging antics.’
