.png)
.png)
Bus and rail operator Go-Ahead granted Fair Tax Mark
A leading provider of public transport has become the first FTSE 350 company to be granted a divisive corporate tax standard.
The Go-Ahead Group – operator of the Southern, Southeastern and London Midland rail franchises – was yesterday awarded the Fair Tax Mark (FTM), which has been the subject of much controversy and debate in the tax sector since it was unveiled last summer.
The FTM was created by tax campaigner Richard Murphy to encourage businesses to be transparent in their corporate tax affairs. It underwent a major revamp ahead of its official launch in February, switching its focus from multinationals to medium-sized companies and becoming an accreditation for which firms can apply, rather than an award handed out at the discretion of its organisers.
The mark, a not-for profit body curently seeking investors, is granted following a review of a firm’s accounts and website, and focuses on corporation tax paid and on the content and clarity of taxation statements in publicly available accounts.
The Newcastle-based Go-Ahead is the largest company so far to receive the FTM. “As a socially responsible organisation, transparency and openness are important to us,” said CEO David Brown.
The FTM’s Meesha Nehru praised the bus and rail operator for showing “real commitment” by having “adopted a new group tax policy that best reflected current practice”.
Nehru added that Go-Ahead had “committed to not use tax havens or tax avoidance arrangements, to have good relationships with HMRC, and to disclose how it gets to the tax figures in its accounts.”
