It is official SKDC policy to continually aspire to be a fair tax organisation – and we are proud to be able to meet this gold standard of responsible tax conduct.
This includes our work with third-party suppliers and contractors. SKDC undertakes due diligence where possible to ensure that all new suppliers wishing to trade with the council are transparent and complete declarations on ownership, profit and loss, that they pay due taxes, business rates and other taxes in line with the Fair Tax standards. Under SKDC procurement rules, potential suppliers must declare if they have committed any tax offences and if so, would be excluded from bidding on our tenders.
In addition, the Council will not use offshore methods to buy land or property, as this may lead to reduced payments of stamp duty.
We also take the opportunity to promote the Fair Tax standard to all existing suppliers and request that they seek compliance with the standard.
Evidence was presented to the Finance Overview and Scrutiny Committee in June 2025, showing:
• The council has access to external VAT expert advisors to ensure it is compliant in all activities
• In July 2024 the Council completed a VAT self-assessment review with its external VAT advisors which demonstrated good tax conduct
• The Council also undertook a compliance review with HMRC as part of their rotational selection process which didn’t identify any significant issues
In addition:
• Training was delivered on IR35 and Off-Payroll Working in November 2023 to ensure officers are aware of the correct processes and obligations, to ensure contract workers pay a fair share of employment taxes
• This was supplemented by the Council procuring an e-learning licences for IR35 status training to be rolled out to all officers that undertake recruitment
Following a vote by the full Council in November, SKDC also supports the idea of urgent reform of UK procurement law to enable local authorities to better penalise poor tax conduct and reward good tax conduct through their procurement policies.
Deputy Chief Executive of SKDC and Section 151 Officer Richard Wyles, said: “Tax is so important when considered against the huge number of vital public services it helps support.
"It is important we lead by example by demonstrating continued good practice in our own tax conduct, and that we also help to raise awareness of the importance of all companies paying their fair share.”
More information: https://fairtaxmark.net
SKDC is proud to have been part of Fair Tax Week 2025, which runs from 8-15 June.
Fair Tax Week is run by the Fair Tax Foundation and aims to raise awareness about the importance of responsible tax conduct and financial transparency.
A commitment to Fair Tax encourages organisations to lead by example and do the right thing in their own tax affairs, requiring greater transparency from suppliers. Organisations involved consider a company’s ethics and how they pay their tax, as well as value for money and quality of services provided, when awarding contracts to companies.