SSE use paying tax for competitive advantage

You may have seen the advertisements from the energy supplier SSE in the press recently. SSE is the first FTSE 100 company to be awarded the third party accredited Fair Tax Mark. It shows to what low levels the business community has sunk if paying the right amount of tax can be used for competitive advantage in this way. However, it does help to demonstrate that SSE is listening to the public. It also helps to build the business case for culture change as ethical behaviours can be used for both competitive advantage and sector leadership.

SSE’s Finance Director, Gregor Alexander says “Taxes are the way that every member of society makes a contribution to the cost of providing the public services we all rely on. That is why paying the right amount of tax matters and why SSE has a responsibility to make a fair contribution. SSE has always been open about its tax but we’ve taken our transparency to a new level following the advice received from the Fair Tax Mark.”

The one good thing about getting a mark like this and openly promoting it is that the company now has to work hard to retain it. Let’s hope others beat a path to the Fair Tax door so that paying the right amount of tax just becomes the basic, expected requirement of every, and any, responsible business.