UK Fund Manager Seeks Insight Into Corporate Tax Policy

by Robert Lee, Tax-News.com, London

09 August 2004

According to a report in The Times, UK fund management firm Henderson Global Investors has written to 350 of Britain’s largest public companies seeking insight into their corporate tax policies.

The two-page letter consists of around 15 questions, and delves into companies’ relationship with the Inland Revenue and the nature of their tax planning schemes, the paper reported.

“The amount of tax companies pay is clearly relevant to investors and it is in their interest that firms should not pay too much tax nor run a risk in the way they run their tax affairs,” explained Rob Lake of Henderson, which manages over £70 billion in assets.

Angered by the poll, a recipient described the letter as an “extraordinarily detailed questionnaire”, which asked questions about tax policy, transfer pricing, tax schemes and firms’ relations with the Inland Revenue.

“These are sensitive areas, which are not normally the domain of our shareholders,” he added.

The move comes against a backdrop of increasing scrutiny by the UK authorities of the amount of tax paid (or not paid) by the corporate world, illustrated by the introduction of tough new disclosure rules which are designed to weed out the use of illegitimate tax planning schemes.

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