ICAS is warning that big business needs to do more to explain their approach to paying tax, after a survey found that only a third of those polled believe the UK’s largest companies are paying their fair share
The YouGov study for ICAS and energy company SSE found that only a third (34%) of those surveyed believe that big businesses in the UK pay their fair share of tax, much lower than the 80% who think that small businesses do.
Over half (57%) state that the way a company pays their taxes affects their trust for that company.
Just 6% would trust a company to provide accurate information on whether they are paying the right amount of tax, whereas 43% would trust an independent accreditation such as the Fair Tax Mark, while nearly half (47%) would trust HMRC, although the tax authority is not allowed to disclose the details of individual tax settlements with corporations.
More than two thirds (69%) of people think the government should consider a company's ethics and how it pays its taxes, as well as value for money and quality of service when awarding public contracts.
Only 10% think it is acceptable for a company to reduce its corporation tax by moving its base of operations to a country with a lower corporation tax rate.
Jim Pettigrew, ICAS president, said: ‘The survey demonstrates that big business has got a long way to go to convince the public that companies have earned their trust on taxation.
‘Ensuring companies behave in the right way and improve transparency and communication is key to changing this perception. There is a difficult mountain to climb for business and the profession to explain the tax landscape to the public.’
‘There is also a pressing need for better tax legislation to be enacted which minimises complexity and reduces the grey areas where so much of the ambiguity lies.’
The sample size was 2,000.
