Fair tax week

It’s Fair Tax Week, created by the Fair Tax Mark to further encourage companies to #SayWhatYouPayWithPride.

The number of companies now proudly holding a Fair Tax Mark certification has risen to 52 — no mean feat when the organisation rejects 2 in 3 applicants (it promises them anonymity so that companies are not disincentivised from applying. We are told to expect 3 major PLCs being certified over this summer.

Fair Tax Week was launched at an energising Fair Tax Conference on Friday. Fair Tax Mark  announced that it will start developing standards for international businesses, so that certification will be available not only for UK-based businesses.

The event was sponsored by two of the larger companies that carry certification, FTSE 350 businesses SSE and Pennon. I was most struck by this slide from Pennon, confirming that the general public (as expressed at focus groups the company held on the topic of tax) principal aim with regard to taxation is fairness. The progress that Fair Tax Mark is making suggests that this is not as hard to identify in practice as some would imply.