Our approach to tax Our tax principles Our clients We have set out and published clear tax principles that govern Our tax principles make it very clear that all tax planning for our clients our approach to tax planning. Our tax planning must: must support genuine commercial activity. While our clients are ultimately responsible for any decisions in relation to their tax affairs, ■■ support genuine commercial activity we, like other banks, do provide some tax related products to our clients. These products are well-understood by tax authorities and often deliver ■■ comply with generally accepted custom and practice, taxincentivesspecificallyintendedbygovernments. in addition to the law and the UK Code of Practice on Taxation for Banks Conversely, for example, we would not provide non-standard loan funding to a client, where the funding is integral to the client’s tax ■■ be of a type that the tax authorities would expect planning, if the tax planning does not comply with the spirit, as well ■■ only take place with customers and clients sophisticated as the letter, of the law. enough to assess its risks ■■ be consistent with, and seen to be consistent with, Our tax principles make it very clear that our purpose and values. all tax planning for our clients must support Our tax principles are central to our approach to tax planning for genuine commercial activity. ourselves or on behalf of our clients. Since their introduction in 2013 we believe our tax principles have been a very valuable addition to Our business the way we manage tax, ensuring that we take into account all of our stakeholders when making decisions related to our tax affairs. The Taxinfluencesdecisionsabouthowwerunandorganiseourbusinessand same applies to our tax code of conduct which is discussed further about where we base our operations. Making these decisions is an integral on page 8. part of running a global commercial organisation. When tax is a factor in deciding where or how we do business, we ensure that decisions made areconsistentwithourtaxprinciplesandthatprofitsaretaxedinthe locations in which the economic activity generating them takes place. Dealings between different companies within our Group are priced on an arm’s-lengthbasisandreflecttheeconomicsubstanceofthe transaction in accordance with established international standards and localtaxlaws.Arrangementsthatartificiallytransferprofitsintoalow tax jurisdiction would not be compliant with the tax principles and we do not therefore enter into such arrangements. When tax is a factor in deciding where or how we do business, we ensure that decisions made are consistent with our tax principles and that profits are taxed in the locations in which the economic activity generating them takes place. Low tax territories We have business operations in a number of jurisdictions which have low tax rates. For example, we operate full-service retail and corporate banking businesses in Mauritius and the Seychelles. In both cases we are one of the leading banks in the country, having operated there for more than 50 years. ClosertotheUK,wealsohaveoperationsinoffshorefinancialcentres which are based principally in the Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey, whereouroperationsarealong-termsignificantlocalemployer. However,wedonotmarketthetaxbenefitsofoffshorefinancialcentres toourclients.Whereaclientchoosestoinvestviaanoffshorefinancial centre, Barclays will only provide the client with services that are compliant with our tax principles. We have also historically incorporated companies under the laws of other low tax jurisdictions, particularly the Cayman Islands, because the local company law makes it simple and cost effective to set up and manage companies.Alloftheprofitsgeneratedinthesecompaniesaresubject to corporation tax at a rate at least equal to the UK corporation tax rate.  BarclaysPLCCountrySnapshot2016 • 07