Tax transparency
Our tax strategy is designed to support Powering Progress through our commitment to transparency, compliance and open dialogue with our stakeholders, from governments to civil society. Our strategy and actions reflect our values and principles.
Tax revenues enable governments to pay for public services, such as education, health care and transport. In 2022, Shell paid $68.2 billion to governments: we paid $13.4 billion in corporate income taxes and $8.2 billion in government royalties, and collected $46.6 billion in excise duties, sales taxes and similar levies on our fuel and other products on behalf of governments.
We also made other payments to governments, including $15.1 billion in production entitlements, $2.6 billion in fees and $221 million in bonuses.
New taxes, such as the EU solidarity contribution and the UK Energy (Oil and Gas) Profits Levy, were introduced in 2022.
Shell publishes a Tax Contribution Report annually which sets out the corporate income tax that Shell companies paid in countries and locations where they have a taxable presence. Our latest Tax Contribution Report includes a breakdown of our total tax contribution in 21 countries where we have key business activities, an increase from five in the previous year. We hope to expand this disclosure to include our other tax jurisdictions in the future.
We regularly engage with policymakers to support the development of tax rules and regulations based on sound tax policy principles. In this way, we hope to contribute to the development of fair, effective and stable tax systems. We also provide constructive input to industry groups and international organisations, such as the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, the B Team Responsible Tax Working Group and the international business network Business at OECD.
For instance, Shell has worked with the largest employers’ organisation in the Netherlands, VNO-NCW, on an initiative to improve tax governance and transparency for companies whose securities are listed in that country. In May 2022, VNO-NCW published the Tax Governance Code (TGC), which Shell helped initiate and develop. Given the scale of our activities in the Netherlands, we have voluntarily signed up to the TGC.
Read more about our approach to tax at www.shell.com/sustainability/transparency-and-sustainability-reporting/shells-approach-to-tax.html.
Read our latest Tax Contribution Report at www.shell.com/tax-contribution-report and our Payments to Governments report at www.shell.com/payments.
