It’s Fair Tax Week – Here’s Why It Matters to Us

This week is Fair Tax Week (8–15 June 2025) – a time when Fair Tax accredited businesses share their stories on the importance of paying taxes openly and fairly. At Friendly Soap, we’ve proudly been registered Fair Tax Mark since 2021, because we believe that how a company handles its tax affairs says a lot about its values.

 

Paying tax isn’t just about compliance, it’s about contribution. It’s how we fund the essential services that hold our society and communities together:

• The NHS and social care services
• Schools and Education
• Public transport, roads and recycling
• Emergency services, libraries, and local councils
  

When companies pay their fair share, these services thrive. When they don’t, those most in need often pay the price.

The Reality of Modern Tax Avoidance

Some of the world’s largest companies manage to drastically reduce their tax bills, not by breaking the law, but by using offshore accounts, subsidiaries, and legal loopholes that allow them to move their profits away from where the real work happens.

A common approach is to set up parts of their business in low-tax or no-tax jurisdictions, often called tax havens. They might:

• Route profits through shell companies with little to no employees or real business activity
• Pay themselves royalties, licensing fees, or interest charges between their own entities to move profits around on paper
• Store money in offshore bank accounts where it’s shielded from taxation

This means companies making billions in countries like the UK, where they rely on public infrastructure and services, can end up contributing very little in return.

The Guardian reported that in 2021, over 2 billion pounds were shifted into tax havens. That’s revenue lost from schools, hospitals, and public services, all to boost corporate earnings.

What the Fair Tax Mark Means

It’s never been more important for businesses to step up and join a movement that promotes the idea of paying taxes willingly and transparently to help build a better society for everyone. The Fair Tax Accreditation recognises companies that:

• Pay the right amount of tax on time
• Reject artificial tax avoidance schemes
• Publish clear and honest tax information

Why Friendly Soap Are Fair Tax Accredited

At Friendly Soap, we’ve always believed that businesses should be a force for good. That means making choices that are kind to the planet, fair to people, and honest in how we operate. Becoming Fair Tax Mark accredited in 2021 was a natural extension of those values.

We don’t use offshore structures or artificial schemes to reduce our tax bill; we pay our taxes here in the UK, where we live, work, and make our products. We believe in being transparent about how we contribute, because we know tax plays a vital role in supporting the services our communities rely on. 

For us, it’s simple: people and planet come before profit, and paying our fair share is part of that commitment.