VME Retail accredited as Fair Tax Mark business
*PLEASE NOTE: VME Retail Systems Ltd is now VME Coop*
VME Retail Systems Ltd, who provide a high quality epos system (IntelliStore) to convenience stores and supermarkets throughout the UK, has today been certified as an accredited Fair Tax Mark business.
VME Retail focus on grocery epos, including forecourts, making them a well-known specialist in this particular area, writing and maintaining their own software and offering a support team to assist customers to run their businesses.
Already some fifty businesses have been certified, including FTSE-listed plcs, co-operatives, social enterprises and large private business – who between them have income of £50bn and over 6,500 offices and outlets. Fair Tax Mark accredited businesses include Lush, Richer Sounds, Timpson Group, Leeds Building Society and the Co-op. Their commitment to tax transparency helps consumers understand more about their tax practises and make informed spending decisions.
The Fair Tax Mark is 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. As part of the accreditation process VME Retail has radically improved its tax transparency and published a new Tax Strategy, which recognises that tax pays for vital public services and details its commitment to shun tax avoidance.
Stephen Gill, Chief Executive, VME Retail, said: “The directors and shareholders of VME have always believed in the principle that everyone needs to pay fair tax. Indeed, even when faced with the opportunity to reduce our tax by routing profits through our Maltese software development office, we rejected it because our income is UK based, and therefore our tax should be UK based as well. That is why, when we discovered the Fair Tax Mark existed, we were keen to obtain the mark to recognise the way we’ve been running our business.”
Paul Monaghan, Chief Executive, Fair Tax Mark said: “We are pleased to announce the Fair Tax Mark certification of VME Retail. It’s particularly positive as they are embracing transparency at a time when mainstream accounting standards, such as FRS 102 are leading business in the opposite direction, with little or no disclosure of tax conduct.”
“At a time when the public is growing used to headlines about big corporates shifting profits to tax havens and minimising the contributions they make to the public purse, it’s refreshing to see a business that is proud to say what they pay.
“Corporation Tax is often presented as a burden, but it shouldn’t be. Not when considered against the huge array of public services it helps fund – from education, health and social care, to flood defence, roads, policing and defence. It also plays a crucial role in holding the whole tax system together – helping to counter financial inequalities and rebalance distorted economies.”
It is estimated that£400bn of global corporate profits are shifted annually to tax havens, with corporate tax revenue losses in the UK of approximately £7bn per annum.
