November 2023
Petredec companies in the UK covered by this strategy:
- Petredec (Europe) Limited;
- Petredec Services Limited;
- Fortitude Shipping Limited;
- Petredec Global Shipping Pte. Ltd., UK Branch.
We consider that the publication of this UK tax strategy complies with the obligations of the Petredec UK Group under Paragraph 16(2) of Schedule 19, Finance Act 2016 for the year ending 31 December 2023.
Petredec UK companies, in line with Groupwide standards, are fully committed to conducting all business activities with integrity and excellence, and to preserving the trust of its shareholders, clients, employees and business partners.
Governance
The Group Chief Financial Officer (CFO) bears ultimate responsibility for the Group’s tax strategy, the management of tax risk and governance of tax matters. He is a member of the Board of Directors Petredec Pte. Ltd. (PPL) and approves the strategy each year. The Group Head of Tax, who is a direct report of the CFO, is responsible for the day-to-day management of tax matters. Both the Group CFO and Group Head of Tax are based in Singapore.
Petredec’s UK tax function is responsible for ensuring that tax legislation, regulations and obligations for the UK and other relevant jurisdictions are adhered to and that the appropriate amount of tax is paid on a timely basis.
Tax Risk Management
Petredec UK Group is part of the Petredec Group and has no presence outside the UK. It considers its tax risk to be low and aims to maintain this risk profile. There are three categories of tax risk:
- Tax compliance and reporting, being the risk of a compliance failure leading to the untimely or inaccurate submission of a tax return;
- Transactional risk, where a transaction that is undertaken carries a tax risk that has not been adequately considered; and
- Reputational risk, or “optics” risk, whereby the tax a company has paid is perceived as being inadequate.
The Group Head of Tax seeks to identify and manage these risks and to ensure that internal controls and procedures help with the identification, quantification, and management of key risks.
Tax compliance and relationship with HMRC
Petredec Group is committed to maintaining a constructive, engaged relationship with all the authorities that regulate its businesses. Petredec UK Group pursues an open, transparent and trust-based relationship with HMRC by always seeking to:
- Comply with UK tax legislation, regulations and obligations;
- Pay the appropriate amount of tax on a timely basis; and
- Work collaboratively with tax authorities to achieve early agreement on disputed issues and certainty on a real-time basis, wherever possible.
It discusses its business and specific tax matters arising with its Customer Compliance Manager as they arise.
Tax planning and risk
Petredec UK Group is aware of the need, as a corporate citizen of the UK, to pay an appropriate amount of tax in relation to its operations in the country. Petredec UK Group actively eschews high-risk strategies. Conversely, Petredec UK Group conducts its affairs in a simple, straightforward way that is consistent with both its obligations as a corporate citizen and as a member of a multi-national corporate group. It works with external tax advisors in the UK and overseas where it faces issues that are complex or uncertain. It only undertakes planning that is consistent with the commercial and economic substance of the group.
