Outsourcer Capita is the largest employer with 63,000 staff to receive certification for tax transparency and compliance on corporation tax
Capita has been given the Fair Tax Mark certification, an independent certification scheme which recognises organisations that demonstrate they are paying the right amount of corporation tax in the right place, at the right time.
In total, more than 50 businesses have now been certified. These include FTSE listed companies SSE, United Utilities and the Co-operative Group, as well as Timpson, Lush and Richer Sounds.
As part of the accreditation process, Capita has published its first responsible taxation report, which sets out plainly what tax they pay and why, both in the UK and abroad.
This also describes how Capita is seeking to remove complexity from its corporate structure, including details around closures of subsidiaries in the UK, Jersey, Luxembourg and the UAE.
It will also publish country-by-country reports during 2020, after publication of the annual reports and accounts.
Jon Lewis, Capita chief executive said: ‘Achieving the Fair Tax Mark accreditation recognises the important steps we have made to being a progressive, purpose-led, responsible business as part of our multi-year transformation.’
Polling data from the Institute of Commercial Management showed record levels of concern among the public about the use of tax avoidance practices by businesses in the UK.
Over three quarters of the public said they would rather shop with (77%) or work for (78%) a business that can prove it is paying its fair share of tax – in both cases, up eight percentage points on 2018.
An increasing number also said that it was important to celebrate businesses who can demonstrate good tax conduct and shun the artificial use of tax havens and contrived tax avoidance practices, up six percentage points on 2018, to 75%.
Paul Monaghan, chief executive, Fair Tax Mark, said: ‘The public rightly expects responsible behaviour, but far too often they are reading headlines that describe the tactics businesses employ to avoid contributing the tax they should to the public purse.
‘It is estimated that annually, due to corporate profits being shifted to tax havens, corporate tax revenue losses in the UK amount to at least £7bn.’
