Many companies have already eschewed the use of child labour and sweatshops, while promoting environmentally sustainable practices in an effort to increase their standing in the eyes of the public – their customers and the cornerstone of their business.
But, as UK Uncut activists occupying Barclays, Vodafone and Topshop stores have highlighted, companies can no longer consider their tax planning activities as a separate issue.
As James Henderson, founder and chief executive, of Pelham Bell Pottinger, the UK’s second largest financial public relations company, pointed out, the media and the public see tax avoidance as an issue as controversial as banker bonuses in these austere times. This is coupled with a lack of understanding because neither the tax authorities nor the companies will explain to people in clear terms why they have the tax arrangements they do. It is, as he said, “an own goal”.
You can hear from Henderson, alongside Clare Short, Pascal Saint-Amans and the tax directors of some of the world’s biggest multinationals, at International Tax Review’s first Tax & Transparency Forum in London on May 2 to find out how greater tax transparency can help you in boosting your corporate reputation.
You will also hear the latest developments in introducing country-by-country reporting, on transfer pricing rules, information exchange and dispute resolution.
To view the full programme and register to attend, click here.
