Fair Tax Mark businesses top Danish tax governance ratings
Enhanced metrics inspired by the Fair Tax Foundation have helped Fair Tax Mark accredited businesses flourish in this year’s Økonomisk Ugebrev Tax Governance Rating.
The Danish publication recently released their 2024 rankings, which score companies on their responsible tax conduct.
Fair Tax Mark business Ørsted took the top spot for Danish large caps, along with Vestas, with 12 points out of a possible 14.
Recently Fair Tax Mark accredited business North Media were the publication’s ‘high jumper of the year’, with eight points compared with last year’s three. They came third in the mid-cap rankings.
Last year, Økonomisk Ugebrev announced new metrics for their annual rating related to total tax contribution, where in order to earn points companies must declare a total amount of the company’s tax contribution – and it must at least be clearly stated what proportion of the amount is taxes paid and taxes collected, respectively.
In their tax policy metric they also said extra points available for stating who on the board of directors is responsible for the preparation and compliance with the company’s tax policy had been inspired by the guidance from the Fair Tax Foundation. We state that strong governance frameworks facilitate the effective implementation of policy within a business. Board oversight is essential for robust governance. The designation of a named board director provides solid accountability and demonstrates how serious the business views responsible tax conduct.
Speaking to Økonomisk Ugebrev about this year’s Tax Governance Rating, Christian Hallum, Tax Justice Lead at Oxfam, said:
“The future of responsible tax lies within accreditation schemes such as the Fair Tax Mark, which ensures standardisation of information and requirements – and which also has an element of external control of the company’s approach to responsible tax. This will probably contribute to raising the quality and comparability of companies’ approach to responsible tax, which are two of the biggest challenges of our time.”
Hallum also flagged tax transparency as an important next step for Danish companies, such as publishing full country-by-country reports, annual statements on a company’s presence in tax havens, and information on the use of tax incentives.
Commenting on the news, Greg Yates, Senior Ratings Manager at the Fair Tax Foundation, said:
“It’s great to see Ørsted and North Media, two Fair Tax Mark accredited businesses, performing strongly in these newly released Tax Governance Ratings. We are delighted that their enhanced tax disclosures are being recognised by Økonomisk Ugebrev.
“Among other requirements, our Fair Tax Mark global multinational assessment standard highlights the importance of publishing public country-by-country reporting data and robust tax policy commitments – and it’s pleasing to note that these principles are also being rewarded here.”
