Anti Tax Evasion Policy

1.       INTRODUCTION

1.1.   We conduct all of our business in an honest and ethical manner. We take a zero-tolerance approach to facilitation of tax evasion, whether under UK law or under the law of any foreign country.

1.2.   We are committed to acting professionally, fairly and with integrity in all our business dealings and relationships wherever we operate and implementing and enforcing effective systems to counter tax evasion facilitation.

1.3.   We uphold all laws relevant to countering tax evasion, including the Criminal Finances Act 2017.

2.       ABOUT THIS POLICY

2.1.   The purpose of this policy is to:

2.1.1.     set out our responsibilities, and of those working for us, in observing and upholding our position on preventing the criminal facilitation of tax evasion; and

2.1.2.     provide information and guidance on how we recognise and avoid tax evasion.

2.2.   If we fail to prevent our employees, workers, agents or service providers from facilitating tax evasion, we can face criminal sanctions including an unlimited fine, as well as exclusion from tendering for public contracts and damage to our reputation. We therefore take our legal responsibilities extremely seriously.

3.       WHAT IS TAX EVASION FACILITATION?

3.1.   For the purposes of this policy:

3.1.1.     Tax evasion means the offence of cheating the public revenue or fraudulently evading UK tax and is a criminal offence. The offence requires an element of fraud, which means there must be deliberate action, or omission with dishonest intent;

3.1.2.     Foreign tax evasion means evading tax in a foreign country, provided that the conduct is an offence in that country and would be a criminal offence if committed in the UK. As with tax evasion, the element of fraud means there must be deliberate action, or omission with dishonest intent; and

3.1.3.     Tax evasion facilitation means being knowingly concerned in, or taking steps with a view to, the fraudulent evasion of tax (whether UK tax or tax in a foreign country) by another person, or aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring the commission of that offence. Tax evasion facilitation is a criminal offence where it is done deliberately and dishonestly.

3.2.   Under the Criminal Finances Act 2017, a separate criminal offence is automatically committed by a company where the tax evasion is facilitated by a person acting in the capacity of an "associated person" to that body. For the offence to be made out, the associated person must deliberately and dishonestly take action to facilitate the tax evasion by the taxpayer. The company does not have to have deliberately or dishonestly facilitated the tax evasion itself; the fact that the associated person has done so creates the liability for the company.

3.3.   Tax evasion is not the same as tax avoidance or tax planning. Tax evasion involves deliberate and dishonest conduct. Tax avoidance is not illegal and involves taking steps, within the law, to minimise tax payable or maximise tax reliefs.

4.       NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS

4.1.   Our employees are trained to notify a Director as soon as possible if they believe or suspect that any tax evasion has taken place. Typical “red flags” are:

4.1.1.     knowledge that a third party has made or intends to make a false statement relating to tax, has failed to disclose income or gains to, or to register with, HMRC (or the equivalent authority in any relevant non-UK jurisdiction), has delivered or intends to deliver a false document relating to tax, or has set up or intends to set up a structure to try to hide income, gains or assets from a tax authority;

4.1.2.     knowledge that a third party has deliberately failed to register for VAT (or the equivalent tax in any relevant non-UK jurisdiction) or failed to account for VAT;

4.1.3.     a third-party supplier requesting payment in cash and/or refusing to enter into a formal agreement;

4.1.4.     a subcontractor demanding that they are not paid under the Construction Industry Scheme when they are clearly involved in construction operations;

4.1.5.     a limited company contractor asking us to pay them outside of IR35 when we have reason to believe that they are operating inside of IR35;

4.1.6.     a third party to whom we have provided services:

4.1.6.1.   requesting that their invoice is addressed to a third party;

4.1.6.2.   refusing to put terms agreed in writing or asking for contracts or other documentation to be backdated;

4.1.6.3.   requesting that payment is made to a country or geographic location different from where the third party resides or where the business is transacted;

4.1.6.4.   asking us to change the description of services rendered on an invoice in a way that seems designed to obscure the nature of the services provided; or

4.1.6.5.   issuing an invoice that appears to be non-standard or customised;

4.1.7.     an employee raising an invoice for a commission or fee that appears too large or too small, given the service which has been provided;

4.1.8.     an employee failing to raise an invoice for work which appears to have been successfully completed.

4.1.9.     a third party requesting or requiring the use of an agent, intermediary, consultant, distributor or supplier that is not typically used by or known to us.

4.2.   Individuals who raise concerns or report another's wrongdoing, are sometimes worried about possible repercussions. We aim to encourage openness and will support anyone who raises genuine concerns in good faith under this policy, even if they turn out to be mistaken.

4.3.   We are committed to ensuring no one suffers any detrimental treatment as a result of:

4.3.1.     refusing to take part in, be concerned in, or facilitate tax evasion or foreign tax evasion by another person;

4.3.2.     refusing to aid, abet, counsel or procure the commission of a tax evasion offence or a foreign tax evasion offence by another person; or

4.3.3.     reporting in good faith their suspicion that an actual or potential tax evasion offence or foreign tax evasion offence has taken place or may take place in the future.

5.       SUPPLIER ADHERENCE

5.1.   We have a zero-tolerance approach to tax evasion and, where appropriate, we require our suppliers to:

5.1.1.     comply with our due diligence procedures and produce adequate documentation and information to satisfy us that they are not involved in tax evasion;

5.1.2.     comply with strict contractual requirements relating to the prevention of tax evasion;

5.1.3.     have in place and provide on demand evidence of the procedures which they have adopted to combat tax evasion within their own business operations and supply chains.

6.       TRAINING

To ensure a high level of understanding of the risks of tax evasion in our supply chains and our business, we will provide training to our staff. We also expect our business partners to provide training to their staff.

7.       FEEDBACK & QUESTIONS

7.1.   We welcome feedback on this policy from staff members, business partners and any other interested third parties.

7.2.   Any feedback or questions should be addressed to our Managing Director and sent to info@mprsiteservices.co.uk