The Fair Tax Mark was established in the UK in 2014

Community attitudes to tax avoidance vary from approval through neutrality to outright hostility. Opinions may differ depending on the steps taken in the avoidance scheme or the perceived unfairness of the tax avoided. Tax avoidance by corporations in the UK came to national attention in 2012, when MPs singled out Google, Amazon and Starbucks for criticism for diverting hundreds of millions of pounds in UK profits to secretive tax havens. There was such widespread outrage across the UK consumers boycotted the products of Google, Amazon and Starbucks. As a result, Starbucks agreed to restructure their tax affairs so it paid the standard amount of UK tax in future.

In 2014 the Fair Tax Mark was established in the UK as an independent certification scheme to identify companies that pay taxes following the spirit of all tax laws (and who do not use options, allowances, or reliefs or undertake specific transactions that are contrary to the spirit of the law).

The Fair Tax Mark is regulated by Fair Tax Mark Ltd, a not-for-profit Community Benefit Society registered under the Industrial and Provident Societies Act (Registration: 32308R). Fair Mark Tax Ltd:

• Works with technical experts and other stakeholders to outline the standards businesses need to reach to become Fair Tax accredited.
• Works with businesses of all sizes, from independent high street shops to large multinationals, to help them achieve those standards
• Raises public awareness of the Fair Tax Mark and accredited businesses to bring Fair Tax businesses and consumers together