On 6th March 2022, the Financial Times reported that twenty-four Amazon investors are urging the tech giant to boost openness in tax declarations and embrace a new reporting standard. Media sources said, Amazon Shareholders Call For Tax Transparency.
Sources said investors are attempting to bring a shareholder resolution requesting a new tax reporting standard to the company’s annual meeting this year, citing a letter that will be delivered to the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
“Aggressive tax practices can expose a company — and its investors — to increased scrutiny from tax authorities, adjustment risks, and increased vulnerability to changes in tax rules as countries seek to protect their tax bases from deleterious practices,” investors wrote in a letter obtained by the Financial Times.
According to the publication, the investors, which include asset managers Nordea and Royal London and many significant European and American pension funds, will force Amazon to release a transparency report based on the Global Reporting Initiative’s (GRI) tax standard.
A request for comment from Amazon was not immediately returned. Financial Times said the letter was signed by more than 100 organizations, including the New York City Office of the Comptroller and the UK’s largest private pension fund, the Universities Superannuation Scheme.
In December 2021, Greater Manchester Pension Fund and Oblate International Pastoral Investment Trust filed a shareholder motion requesting Amazon adopt the new GRI Tax Standard, which includes public country-by-country financial, tax, and labor data.
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