- Boasted of tax contributions in annual report
- Claimed tax was “important aspect” of corporate citizenship
- But refused to sign up to code until forced by Osborne
Despite the exposure of Barclays’ “aggressive tax avoidance” scheme — designed to save them billions of pounds over several years — it seems the bank were more than happy to brag about their position as “corporate citizens”.
In the review section of their last annual report, the bank go to great lengths to stress their societal role, including a section entitled “Total tax contribution” – which boasted of the amount of tax they pay:
“Barclays role as a corporate citizen remained a key priority … and an important aspect of this was the tax contribution made to governments in the countries in which we operate.”
In reality, the bank were dragged kicking and screaming into the so-called “voluntary” code. Despite the measure announced in June 2009, the chancellor was forced to threaten binding legistlation when only four of the top fifteen banks had signed up to the scheme nearly eighteen months later — including Barclays.
With an annual report taglined “Delivering on our promises”, there’s obviously a keen sense of irony at 1 Churchill Place.
