We are a global leader in the lift and escalator industry, and our job is to make the best of the world’s cities.
At KONE, our mission is to improve the flow of urban life. As a global leader in the lift and escalator industry, KONE provides lifts, escalators and automatic building doors, as well as solutions for maintenance and modernisation, which add value to the life cycle of any building.
Through more effective People Flow®, we make people’s journeys safe, convenient and reliable, in taller, smarter buildings. Together with our partners and customers around the world, we help cities to become better places to live in. In 2020, KONE had annual net sales of EUR 9.9 billion, and at the end of the year over 60,000 employees. KONE class B shares are listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd. in Finland.
KONE has been operating in Great Britain for more than 40 years. With its head office in Chertsey, Surrey, KONE serves customers from regional offices across the country with its team of nearly 1,800 employees.
KONE Plc is a member of Lift and Escalator Industry Association (LEIA) and Lifting Equipment Engineers Association (LEEA).
Our vision is to create the best People Flow® experience
This means we understand that different types of buildings serve different purposes, which has an impact on the flow of people and on the surrounding environment. It also means we provide Ease, Effectiveness and Experiences to our users and customers, over the full life cycle of buildings.
KONE’s efforts to meet its strategic targets are supported by development programmes that are designed to help us turn our strategy into reality.
We are committed to making KONE a great place to work, where we aim to inspire, engage and develop our employees to deliver great results. Our gender pay gap report provides details on how we are addressing that gap along with our pay gap figures.
As part of a global corporate organisation, we are fully committed to paying the correct amount of tax on the profits we make at the right time and in the countries where we create value that generates those profits. In all tax matters, our aim is to ensure predictability. We also encourage competitive business growth that is tax efficient without compromising tax compliance principles. KONE UK’s Tax Strategy is published in accordance with Schedule 19 of the Finance Act 2016. This strategy was published on 30 April 2021, in respect of the financial year ending 31 December 2020.
OUR TAX STRATEGY
Tax risk management
Taxes are always a consequence of business operations. On the other hand, we must ensure that all business decisions also consider the financial and tax impact of the plan as well as the potential tax and reputational risks. We have a global transfer pricing model in place according to the OECD guidelines and it is implemented consistently within the Group. The Corporate Tax Team is continuously evaluating the transfer pricing model, to ensure its alignment with the business model on a continuous basis. On a minimum of an annual basis, KONE UK carries out a review ensuring that the necessary Tax policies, controls and processes have been adhered to and that staff are appropriately trained and qualified to undertake their functions.
Tax planning and appetite for tax risk
KONE has a low appetite for tax risk. We follow “the more likely than not” principles for making decisions on tax matters by;
• Operating an effective tax control framework to identify key tax risks and to manage those tax risks through appropriate policies, controls and processes.
• Maintaining accounting systems and controls to meet tax compliance obligations.
• Maintaining a strong internal review system that supports the Senior Accounting Officer.
• Ensuring compliance with all relevant laws and regulations.
Co-operation and relationship with HMRC
In the UK, KONE engage with HMRC through our Customer Compliance Manager to discuss our tax affairs. We are committed to maintaining an open, transparent and collaborative approach in our dealings with HMRC by:
• Reporting and responding accurately and in a timely manner and to act with integrity in all tax matters.
• We take care to ensure that our tax affairs are reported accurately, however, if we were to identify an error in a submitted tax return, we would seek to voluntarily disclose it, quantifying the effect of the error and paying any additional taxes that may become due.
• Notifying HMRC of major changes in our corporate operations.
