James Hardie UK Tax Strategy
James Hardie Building Products Limited (“the company”) is publishing this UK tax strategy in compliance with Schedule 19 of the UK Finance Act 2016 with respect to the financial year ending 31 March 2023.
Risk management and governance arrangements
The Board of Directors of James Hardie Industries plc, of which the company is a wholly subsidiary, is ultimately responsible for overseeing corporate governance matters, for ensuring that an appropriate risk management framework is in place and that the risk appetite and tolerances are set at an appropriate level. Generally, the Audit Committee is responsible for oversight of risk management strategy, policies, procedures and controls.
As part of the risk management framework the ERM Risk Management Committee is responsible for implementing and maintaining procedures for identification, monitoring, management and reporting of operation-related risks in the regions in which James Hardie operates and corporate related risks (including tax). The ERM Risk Management Committee comprises four regional risk liaisons (North America, APAC, Europe and Global Security), who help identify cross-functional leaders in each region, who, in conjunction with Corporate Leaders (including the CFO for Finance which includes oversight of tax) identify, review and monitor risks, including tax risks, from the perspective of their area of responsibility. The ERM Risk Management Committee is coordinated by the Chief Legal Counsel.
Tax planning
The company engages in appropriate tax planning that supports its business and reflects commercial and economic activity. The company does not engage in aggressive tax arrangements, the sole purpose of which would be to obtain a tax advantage.
Professional advice is sought on a transactional basis, with the depth of such advice being driven by our assessment of the risk presented by each transaction.
Tax risk
The company’s tax arrangements are based on its commercial business and economic activities. The company sees compliance with tax legislation as key to managing our tax risk. We understand the importance of tax in the wider context of business decisions and have processes in place to ensure tax is considered as part of our decision-making process.
We have relationships with professional advisers that allow us to seek expert advice on specialist areas of tax. Our approach is to ensure we are compliant and understand our responsibilities with regards to tax.
We monitor and review our operations in the UK to align our tax arrangements when necessary to be compliant with the tax rules and regulations.
Relationship with His Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC)
James Hardie is committed to the principles of openness and transparency in its approach to dealing with tax authorities wherever we operate around the world. Our communication with HMRC is focused around timely tax compliance, for example meeting relevant filing and payment deadlines for taxes the company pays.
We employ the services of professional tax advisers to act as our agents, and in a number of cases they liaise with HMRC on our behalf. This is seen by the company as a way to ensure we get the most out of our relationship with HMRC, thus reducing our tax risk.