You made Fair Tax Week 2023 the best yet
Fair Tax Week 2023 has now come to a close. We have to say a huge ‘thank you’ to the many businesses, organisations and councils that celebrated the importance of responsible tax conduct and financial transparency. You made it the best Fair Tax Week to date.
It’s difficult to squeeze all the good things that took place into one article, but here are some highlights.
London launch event and new report
Fair Tax Week opened in style at Central Hall Westminster, bringing together a busy gathering of businesses and like-minded organisations for an evening of celebration. Kindly sponsored by Fair Tax Mark accredited SSE, and in partnership with Westminster City Council, the cheerful drinks and networking event also saw the launch of our new report – Fair Tax Nation: UK Public Attitudes to Corporate Tax Conduct.
Supported by Unity Trust Bank, the report pulls together seven years of UK public polling data that shows the vast majority of people want to ‘shop with’, ‘work for’ and ‘celebrate’ businesses that demonstrate responsible tax conduct.
UK Parliamentary events
Immediately after the launch event, our own Mary Patel boarded the Caledonian Sleeper to Edinburgh for a session in Scottish Parliament the next day. Organised by Rhoda Grant MSP, the reception at Holyrood saw politicians and Fair Tax Mark accredited Scottish businesses discuss the challenges and benefits in demonstrating best practice.
Fair Tax Week 2023 also saw a well-attended event at the Houses of Parliament, hosted by Dame Margaret Hodge MP and Nigel Mills MP of the APPG on Anti-Corruption and Responsible Tax Conduct. The ‘Fairness matters’ event saw businesses, MPs and journalists come together to discuss our Fair Tax Nation report and how future legislation can champion a level playing field for businesses.
Webinars
Covering hot topics like tax havens, beneficial ownership and ESG, expert speakers from around the world headed up engaging and lively Fair Tax Week webinars. Hundreds of people joined online to hear from award-winning journalists, tax justice organisations and global multinational businesses.
The best attended webinar, ‘What makes a tax haven?’, saw Guardian journalist Juliette Garside chair an extended session alongside speakers from Oxfam EU, Tax Justice Network and author Oliver Bullough. Shortly before the webinar, we published our updated list of tax havens. Jaime Boswell, our Head of Accreditation, spoke at the webinar on our methodology and why the perception of palm trees and sandy beaches isn’t always a common feature in these jurisdictions.
If you missed any of webinars, don’t worry – the full recordings can be watched on our YouTube channel.
Shouting loud for Fair Tax
It was incredibly encouraging to see businesses and organisations around the world use Fair Tax Week as a platform to highlight their commitment to responsible tax conduct and financial transparency. Through social media posts, newsletters, articles, videos and more, Fair Tax Mark businesses talked about being part of a progressive international movement and why they joined. During Fair Tax Week we welcomed a new member to our business community – international architecture firm Make.
Local authorities in the UK were also pleased to mark the Week, and Enfield Council in London became the 49th to join our Councils for Fair Tax initiative.
Tax Justice Sunday, which fell on the first weekend of Fair Tax Week, was a busy time for our friends at the JustMoney Movement. Working with individuals and congregations across UK churches, events took place across London to promote the idea of tax as a fundamentally good thing and explore what a fairer, more just tax system could look like.
Here, there and everywhere
We were pleased to be invited to speak at so many events during Fair Tax Week, both in-person and online. From our communications team delivering talks at political gatherings and hosting a session at Co-op Congress in Manchester, England, to our Chief Executive, Paul, speaking at Folkemødet, the bustling Danish democracy festival held on the Baltic island of Bornholm.
We’re always open to speaking at events and conferences, so please do contact us if you’re organising one.
