Diageo plc – Annual report – 30 June 2022
Industry: food and drink
19. Contingent liabilities and legal proceedings (extract)
(f) Tax
The international tax environment has seen increased scrutiny and rapid change over recent years bringing with it greater uncertainty for multinationals. Against this backdrop, Diageo has been monitoring developments and continues to engage transparently with the tax authorities in the countries where Diageo operates to ensure that the group manages its arrangements on a sustainable basis.
The group operates in a large number of markets with complex tax and legislative regimes that are open to subjective interpretation. In the context of these operations, it is possible that tax exposures which have not yet materialised (including those which could arise as a result of tax assessments) may result in losses to the group. In the circumstances where tax authorities have raised assessments, challenging interpretations which may lead to a possible material outflow, these have been included as contingent liabilities. Where the potential tax exposures are known to us and have not been assessed, the group considers disclosure of such matters taking into account their size and nature, relevant regulatory requirements and potential prejudice of the future resolution or assessment thereof.
Diageo has a large number of ongoing tax cases in Brazil and India. Since assessing an accurate value of contingent liabilities in these markets requires a high degree of judgement, contingent liabilities are disclosed on the basis of the current known possible exposure from tax assessment values. While not all of these cases are individually significant, the current aggregate known possible exposure from tax assessment values is up to approximately £545 million for Brazil and up to approximately £131 million for India. The group believes that the likelihood that the tax authorities will ultimately prevail is lower than probable but higher than remote. Due to the fiscal environment in Brazil and in India, the possibility of further tax assessments related to the same matters cannot be ruled out and the judicial processes may take extended periods to conclude. Based on its current assessment, Diageo believes that no provision is required in respect of these issues.
Payments were made under protest in India in respect of the periods 1 April 2006 to 31 March 2019 in relation to tax assessments where the risk is considered to be remote or possible. These payments have to be made in order to be able to challenge the assessments and as such have been recognised as a receivable in the group’s balance sheet. The total amount of payments under protest recognised as a receivable as at 30 June 2022 is £120 million (corporate tax payments of £108 million and indirect tax payments of £12 million).
In the United States, a lawsuit was filed on 15 April 2019 by the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) against the United States Department of the Treasury (US Treasury) and the United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on behalf of its affected industry members, including Diageo, to invalidate regulations published in February 2019 and to ensure that substitution drawback is permitted in accordance with 19 USC § 1313(j)(2) as amended by the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015, which was enacted on 24 February 2016 (TFTEA). Substitution drawback permits the refund, including of excise taxes, paid on imported merchandise when sufficiently similar substitute merchandise is exported. The United States Congress passed the TFTEA to, among other things, clarify and broaden the standard for what constitutes substitute merchandise. This change should entitle Diageo to obtain substitution drawback in respect of certain eligible product categories. Despite this change in the law, the US Treasury and CBP issued final regulations in 2019 declaring that substitution drawback is not available for imports when substituted with an export on which no tax was paid. The Court of International Trade issued a judgment in favour of NAM on 18 February 2020, denying the request by the US Treasury and CBP for a stay of payment on 15 May 2020, and on 26 May 2020, ordered the immediate processing of claims. The US Treasury and CBP filed an appeal with the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in 2021. During the year ended 30 June 2022, the US Court of Appeals dismissed the appeal, confirming the decision of the Court of International Trade. The deadline for the US Treasury and CBP to seek a review at the US Supreme Court level has passed and, as a result, this matter has been resolved.
7. Taxation (extract 1)
Accounting policies
Current tax is based on taxable profit for the year. Taxable profit is different from accounting profit due to temporary differences between accounting and tax treatments, and due to items that are never taxable or tax deductible. Tax benefits are not recognised unless it is probable that the tax positions are sustainable. Once considered to be probable, tax benefits are reviewed each year to assess whether a provision should be taken against full recognition of the benefit on the basis of potential settlement through negotiation and/or litigation. Tax provisions are included in current liabilities. Penalties and interest on tax liabilities are included in operating profit and finance charges, respectively.
Full provision for deferred tax is made for temporary differences between the carrying value of assets and liabilities for financial reporting purposes and their value for tax purposes. The amount of deferred tax reflects the expected recoverable amount and is based on the expected manner of recovery or settlement of the carrying amount of assets and liabilities, using the basis of taxation enacted or substantively enacted by the balance sheet date. Deferred tax assets are not recognised where it is more likely than not that the assets will not be realised in the future. No deferred tax liability is provided in respect of any future remittance of earnings of foreign subsidiaries where the group is able to control the remittance of earnings and it is probable that such earnings will not be remitted in the foreseeable future, or where no liability would arise on the remittance.
Critical accounting estimates and judgements
The group is required to estimate the corporate tax in each of the jurisdictions in which it operates. Management is required to estimate the amount that should be recognised as a tax liability or tax asset in many countries which are subject to tax audits which by their nature are often complex and can take several years to resolve; current tax balances are based on such estimations. Tax provisions are based on management’s judgement and interpretation of country specific tax law and the likelihood of settlement. However, the actual tax liabilities could differ from the provision and in such event the group would be required to make an adjustment in a subsequent period which could have a material impact on the group’s profit for the year.
The evaluation of deferred tax asset recoverability requires estimates to be made regarding the availability of future taxable income. For brands with an indefinite life, management’s primary intention is to recover the book value through a potential sale in the future, and therefore the deferred tax on the brand value is generally recognised using the appropriate country capital gains tax rate. To the extent brands with an indefinite life have been impaired, management considers this to be an indication of recovery through use and in such a case deferred tax on the brand value is recognised using the appropriate country corporate income tax rate.
(a) Analysis of taxation charge for the year
(b) Exceptional tax (credits)/charges
The taxation charge includes the following exceptional items:
- In the year ended 30 June 2022, the exceptional tax credit of £55 million consists of tax impact on the impairment of the McDowell’s and Bell’s brand for £35 million and £20 million respectively. In the year ended 30 June 2020, the exceptional tax credit of £165 million consisted of tax impact on the impairment of the Windsor and USL brands for £105 million and £25 million, respectively, and exceptional tax credits in respect of fixed assets impairments in Nigeria and Ethiopia of £25 million and £10 million, respectively.
- In the year ended 30 June 2020, Diageo launched the “Raising the Bar” programme to support pubs and bars to welcome customers back and recover following the Covid-19 pandemic, including a commitment of $100 million (£81 million) over a period of up to two years from 1 July 2020. Due to uncertainty on the precise nature of the spend, it could not be determined whether the amounts were deductible for tax purposes in future periods. As a result, no deferred tax asset was recognised in respect of the provision for the year ended 30 June 2020. Based on additional information becoming available for re-assessment, a £2 million (30 June 2021 – £5 million) exceptional tax credit was recognised for the year ended 30 June 2022.
- On 24 May 2021, legislation was substantively enacted in the UK to increase the corporate tax rate to 25% with effect from 1 April 2023. As a result of the change, an exceptional tax charge of £46 million was recognised for the year ended 30 June 2021 in relation to the remeasurement of deferred tax assets and liabilities. In addition, there was a one-off charge of £48 million to other comprehensive income and equity, mainly in respect of the remeasurement of the deferred tax liabilities on the post employment assets.
- On 15 December 2020, legislation was substantively enacted in the Netherlands to maintain the headline corporate tax rate at 25%, reversing a previously enacted reduction in the corporate tax rate to 21.7% from 2021. As a result of the change, an exceptional tax charge of £42 million was recognised for the year ended 30 June 2021 in relation to the remeasurement of deferred tax liabilities. During the year ended 30 June 2022, the Dutch Senate enacted an increased tax rate of 25.8%. The remeasurement of deferred tax liabilities was recognised as an underlying tax charge.
(c) Taxation rate reconciliation and factors that may affect future tax charges
(1) Other items not deductible include additional state and local taxes and other expenses.
(2) Movement in provision in respect of uncertain tax positions includes both current and prior year uncertain tax position movements.
(3) Changes in tax rates for the year ended 30 June 2021 are mainly due to the tax rate change in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Changes in tax rates for the year ended 30 June 2020 are mainly due to the Netherlands, UK, India and Kenya.
(4) Excludes prior year movement in provisions.
The table above reconciles the notional taxation charge calculated at the UK tax rate, to the actual total tax charge. As a group operating in multiple countries, the actual tax rates applicable to profits in those countries are different from the UK tax rate. The impact is shown in the table above as differences in overseas tax rates. The group’s worldwide business leads to the consideration of a number of important factors which may affect future tax charges, such as the levels and mix of profitability in different jurisdictions, transfer pricing regulations, tax rates imposed and tax regime reforms, acquisitions, disposals, restructuring activities, and settlements or agreements with tax authorities.
Significant ongoing changes in the international tax environment and an increase in global tax audit activity means that tax uncertainties and associated risks have been gradually increasing. In the medium term, these risks could result in an increase in tax liabilities or adjustments to the carrying value of deferred tax assets and liabilities. See note 19 (f).
The group has a number of ongoing tax audits worldwide for which provisions are recognised in line with the relevant accounting standard taking into account best estimates and management’s judgements concerning the ultimate outcome of the tax audit. For the year ended 30 June 2022, the ongoing audits that are provided for individually are not expected to result in a material tax liability. The current tax asset of £149 million (30 June 2021 – £145 million) and tax liability of £252 million (30 June 2021 – £146 million) include £156 million (30 June 2021 – £129 million) of provisions for tax uncertainties.
The cash tax paid for year ended 30 June 2022 amounts to £949 million (30 June 2021 – £852 million) and is £100 million lower than the current tax charge (30 June 2021 – £39 million higher). This arises as a result of timing differences between the accrual of income taxes, the movement in the provision for uncertain tax positions and the actual payment of cash.
On 20 December 2021, the OECD released a framework for Pillar Two Model Rules which will introduce a global minimum corporate tax rate of 15% applicable to multinational enterprise groups with global revenue over €750 million. In addition, on 20 July 2022, HM Treasury released draft UK legislation that would commence for accounting periods starting on or after 31 December 2023 (i.e. year ending 30 June 2025 for Diageo). Diageo is reviewing this draft legislation and monitoring the status of implementation outside of the UK to understand the potential impact on the group.
Our principal risks and risk management (extract)
Accounts examples 