1. Contact us
Use our business enquiry form to let us know that you are interested, and provide us with some basic information so that we can respond fully and quickly.
2. Letter of Engagement
We will speak with you about your exact needs, and agree the process of accreditation that is appropriate for your business. Then we’ll sign a Letter of Engagement with you – which details scope of services, fees, timescales, responsibilities, confidentiality undertakings, criteria and other matters.
3. Information sharing and Assessment
We will review your recent Financial Statements and connected communications. From this, a detailed and confidential report (in the form of a scorecard) will be produced that highlights how you would perform against the relevant Fair Tax Mark accreditation standard, together with suggested areas of improvement. This stage normally takes around four to eight weeks, subject to the information required being readily available. The clear suggestions we provide could feed into the production of your next set of Annual Report and Accounts, or lead to the production of a bespoke public documentation that augments your existing Annual Report and Accounts (should you wish to progress more quickly).
4. Licensing and Announcement
As and when reporting, policies and practice pass the Fair Tax Mark threshold, you would be able to use the Fair Tax Mark in public communications for a qualifying period of usually twelve months. A Licence Agreement would be issued and you would then be able to use the Fair Tax Mark logo and related materials in public communications for the qualifying period. We would work together to announce and celebrate your certification via a range of communication channels.
Fees
Our fees are based on the size, structure, and complexity of the organisation, as set out:
Please note: re-accreditation is an annual process, with each of the two aforementioned stages progressing afresh based on the information detailed in the updated set of annual financial statements.
There are a thousand and one issues out there that business is being asked to champion – on top of the day-to-day challenge of thriving commercially in an ever more competitive world. Approaches and acronyms abound, be it ESG or CSR or SRI or SDGs, with each urging that a business prioritise their favoured issues.
So, why should a business prioritise responsible tax conduct and tax transparency, and pursue Fair Tax Mark accreditation?
The terrible Russian invasion of Ukraine laid bare the extent of the UK’s exposure to illicit finance, prompting concerted counter efforts by parliamentarians. This week, a welcome second Economic Crime Bill edges closer to being finalised, but substantial loopholes are in danger of being left unaddressed unless amendments – backed by leading anti-corruption and tax justice groups – are accepted.
The advance of tax transparency was never going to be quick and smooth. But it is slowly but surely grinding forward, with increasing legal requirements emerging across many parts of the globe. At the Fair Tax Foundation, we believe that comprehensively implemented public Country-by-Country Reporting (pCbCR) significantly enhances the ability of stakeholders across the world to form an informed opinion as to whether a business is paying the right amount of tax, in the right place and at the right time.
