Our approach to tax
Tax strategy and Enel’s principles
Since 2017, the Enel Group has adopted a tax strategy, as a set of principles and guidelines inspired by values of transparency and legality. The Group’s subsidiaries are required to adopt the tax strategy approved by the parent company, thereby assuming the responsibility of ensuring it is acknowledged and applied.
Enel's Principles
The principles of the tax strategy represent the guidelines for the Group companies, which inspire company operations in the management of the tax variable and require the adoption of suitable processes that guarantee their effectiveness and application.
Honesty and integrity
compliance with tax rules, observing their spirit and purpose
The key role of the Board of Directors
The Group is transparent towards all stakeholders and actively cooperates with the tax authorities
A sustainable business model, aimed at creating and distributing value to all stakeholders over the long term
Tax governance, control and risk management
In Enel’s organisational model, the Holding Company’s Tax Affairs unit is tasked – among other things – with developing the Group’s tax strategy, identifying, analysing and managing the various optimisation initiatives, monitoring the key tax issues and providing its support to the various Business Lines. Alongside the Holding Function, the Tax Affairs units of the various countries – acting in accordance with the values and principles of the tax strategy set out by the holding company – are responsible for managing compliance, tax planning and tax monitoring at local level.
For the Enel Group, tax compliance is considered a key aspect of the Company’s ethical and responsible management. As such, the violations that can be reported through the Company’s internal channels also include those relating to tax.
The Group has a Tax Risk Policy and a Tax Control Framework (TCF) whose main aim is to provide the Tax units with a single and consistent set of guidance for adopting a correct and effective approach to tax risk management within the Group. The framework sets out guidelines and methodological rules so as to consistently assess, monitor and manage the relevant tax risk for the Group’s companies. This is in accordance with the principles and guidelines set out by the tax strategy, and in the awareness that the Group companies operating in different jurisdictions must adopt the TCF with respect for the specific societal context and domestic regulations of the individual countries in question. In accordance with the principles and guidelines set out in the tax strategy, the Enel Group aims to proactively manage the tax risk and believes that adopting a TCF can ensure the timely detection, correct measurement and control of the risk tax.
For companies that meet the legal requirements for participation, the Enel Group promotes participation in cooperative compliance schemes where they exist in the various Countries in which it operates. In particular, Enel participates in the Collaborative Fulfilment (Adempimento Collaborativo) scheme in Italy1, for larger companies, in the equivalent Code of Good Tax Practices (Código de Buenas Prácticas Tributarias) scheme in Spain2 and is collaborating with the federal tax authority in a pilot project for the creation of a local Cooperative Tax Compliance model (Projeto CONFIA - Conformidade Cooperativa Fiscal) in Brazil3.
In order to monitor the status of this activity, an index (the Cooperative Compliance Index - CCI) was developed to measure the participation of Enel Group companies in cooperative compliance regimes in various countries based on their size and membership requirements4.
Transparent relationship with stakeholders
The constant commitment of the Enel Group to transparency with respect to all stakeholders concretely underlines the importance it attributes to the tax variable and its role in the sustainable development of the Company. Therefore, the Group is committed to providing a transparent explanation of the tax issues that can be of interest to third parties, easily accessible and understandable to all.
Enel consistently acts with a transparent and collaborative approach with all national and international institutions and trade associations to support the development of effective tax systems in the various countries where it operates.
In particular, Enel supports fair, effective and stable tax systems in order to reduce uncertainty for both governments and companies. Enel believes that a transparent and coordinated approach between countries is essential to improve the international tax system and it supports a consensual approach to regulatory choices. To this end, it contributes by supporting governments and international organizations through active participation in public consultation phases on new regulatory processes, where they exist, either directly or through participation in various national and international associations.
Enel joined: (i) in 2019 the European Business Tax Forum (EBTF)5, an association that aims to open up a public debate on taxation by providing a balanced and comprehensive perspective of the taxes paid by companies, and (ii) in 2021 the B Team Responsible Tax Principles, that is, the principles developed by the B Team6 for promoting responsible and sustainable tax practices for a better future.
3 https://www.gov.br/receitafederal/pt-br/acesso-a-informacao/acoes-e-programas/confia
4 The index compares the revenues of companies that have joined the existing cooperative compliance regimes to those of all Enel companies legally eligible to join. The index does not consider countries in which the schemes have not been legally established, or companies that do not meet qualifications to join (i.e. because their size is below statutory thresholds), even though the schemes exist in their countries. Nevertheless, the Group’s overall coverage was more than 77% in terms of cooperative compliance companies’ revenues compared to the Group’s total revenues.