Tax transparency and sustainability reporting in 2023

This report takes a closer look at the tax contribution role that corporations play, as well as their role in enabling the broader tax system to work.

Overview

At PwC, we have been at the forefront of tax transparency developments for many years, from the development of the Total Tax Contribution framework to the development of the environmental, social and governance tax metrics for the International Business Council and the World Economic Forum. We continue this work in our ‘Tax transparency and #sustainability reporting in 2023’ study, which we are publishing for the third year in a row.

This report takes a closer look at the tax contribution role that corporations play, as well as their role in enabling the broader tax system to work. The findings indicate that there is an increasing willingness from more companies around the world to report publicly on their tax approaches. While organisations do report on their tax strategy or tax control framework more frequently, this increased willingness should not hide the fact that tax is often still seen purely as a financial issue, subject to complex legislation, and reported in financial statements.

Download the Tax transparency and sustainability reporting publication here

South Africa’s tax reporting landscape

This is the first year that South Africa has participated in the global study, which includes a review of the top 30 companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange based on their market capitalisation on 31 December 2022.

South Africa pioneered integrated reporting as a core element of corporate governance. The King IV Code, a global leader in corporate governance standards, outlines principles and recommended practices for organisations to achieve good governance, manifested in four outcomes: ethical culture, good performance, effective control and legitimacy.

Consistent with the findings of the seventh edition of PwC South Africa’s Building public trust through tax reporting report, leading tax reporters in South Africa effectively communicate their broader impact and the value they create for all their key stakeholders, fostering better open communications rather than mere compliance with regulation. They do so by disclosing and explaining much more than the statutory requirements, such as their tax strategy, their effective tax rate analysis, their total tax contributions in the countries where they operate and voluntary Country by Country reporting. However, despite many guidelines and transparency drivers, many large listed South African companies still do not report more information on tax publicly, beyond what accounting standards require.

Explore the full study ‘Tax transparency and sustainability reporting in 2023’ to learn more.

Download Tax transparency and sustainability reporting 2023

This report takes a closer look at the tax contribution role that corporations play, as well as their role in enabling the broader tax system to work.