Epworth Investment Management Limited (Epworth) considers taxation to be an important contribution to wider society rather than a cost to be minimised. It seeks to pay the right amount of tax at the right time and in the right place, according to the letter and the spirit of the law in each country in which it operates.
It will take into consideration all stakeholders when tax planning, including consumers, investors, our staff and the governments and communities in the countries in which it operates.
It will not structure transactions in a way that does not reflect genuine commercial activity, with the intention of reducing a tax liability.
Epworth will not have any connections with tax havens unless it is necessary for the purposes of trading within those jurisdictions.
It will be open and fair in our negotiations with HM Revenue & Customs and any other tax authorities we deal with, and will seek to discuss with them in advance how any significant transactions whose tax treatment is open to interpretation should be treated for tax purposes.
Epworth will not use marketed tax avoidance schemes or arrangements that fall foul of current regulations.
Epworth will be open and transparent in its lobbying on taxation matters and will not seek to influence governmental tax legislation in any way that is detrimental to its stakeholders’ best interests.
Epworth will monitor compliance with this policy on a regular basis and report on that compliance in our annual reports in future.
June 2020
In order to meet the standards and requirements of the Fair Tax Foundation’s Fair Tax Mark accreditation scheme, we have published some additional information to explain our corporation tax charge as follows: