This tax policy defines Fabege’s view on the Group’s tax management.
Fabege is a listed company that conducts all its operations in Sweden. All staff are employed by Swedish companies within the Group.
For many years, Fabege has had a Code of Conduct based on the ten principles enshrined in the UN Global Compact, covering areas such as the environment, human rights and business ethics. Fabege wants to be a company that operates in a way that encourages sustainable development in society. Payment of tax and tax avoidance are issues that have attracted an increasing amount of attention recently, which is why it is important for Fabege to maintain sound ethics in business decisions that relate to payment of tax.
Fabege’s operations are to be pursued in a professional manner, with the purpose of generating a return for shareholders. At the same time, Fabege has a responsibility for operating in a way that encourages sustainable social development. This includes contributing to society by paying tax.
Fabege will comply with all laws and regulations that apply in the area of taxation. In areas where the regulations are unclear, Fabege will act transparently and exercise caution. Cost-effective management of taxes will be weighed against risks in the Group’s tax management. This applies to, for example, the risk of a business decision being called into question when being assessed for tax, or the risk of a negative impact on Fabege’s brand.
Fabege will engage in tax management based on ethical, legal and professional principles and will abstain entirely from aggressive or advanced tax avoidance. Tax management based on professional principles means measures that aim to reduce the Group’s tax burden while complying with the relevant laws and regulations. Examples of tax management based on professional principles include optimising tax depreciations on the Group’s properties, the opportunity to package properties prior to sale, and property reallotments in the event of internal rearrangements of properties.
This means that Fabege will abstain from business decisions, the sole purpose of which is to reduce tax, such as acquisitions of deficits and the establishment of ‘räntesnurror’ – companies in the same industry using loans and acquisitions to reduce their tax. In cases where the legal situation is uncertain and there is any doubt, Fabege will abstain.
Fabege will produce transparent and open accounts of the Group’s total tax burden. Fabege is of the opinion that transparency facilitates understanding of the Group’s business decisions and willingness to pay tax.
