Our Approach to Tax
Our Business
Indivior is a global pharmaceutical company working to help change patients’ lives by pioneering life-transforming treatment for addiction and other serious mental illnesses.
We manufacture and market medicines for the treatment of moderate to severe opioid use disorder with a global portfolio in over 40 countries. We also market medicine for the treatment of schizophrenia in adults in the United States and make this available through a licensing agreement in Canada.
Our activities around the world incur a variety of business taxes. We pay corporate income taxes, employment taxes and many other business taxes in all jurisdictions as applicable. We also collect and pay employee taxes and indirect taxes such as value added tax (VAT). The taxes we pay and collect represent a significant contribution to the countries and societies in which we operate.
For more information on our business, please click here.
Corporate responsibility and tax
We are committed to responsible corporate behaviour which includes high standards of conduct in our relationships with our workforce, healthcare providers, shareholders, debt holders, suppliers, governing bodies, regulators and professional bodies, and the local communities in which we operate.
We are committed to conduct business on a foundation of strong ethical and moral principles, and this extends to our approach to tax. Our Code of Conduct requires all of our workforce to be aware of and observe all laws and regulations governing the payment of taxes.
Our Global Tax Policy requires compliance with all applicable tax laws and regulations of each country and region where Indivior conducts business as well as the international treaties and conventions. Indivior’s subsidiaries in the UK also share and adopt the Global Tax Policy in relation to UK taxation. We pay the taxes determined by the laws in each country where we do business while seeking to mitigate double taxation. We seek to build and maintain a constructive, appropriate, and open relationship with tax authorities.
Our attitude to tax planning
The transactions into which we enter are primarily driven by our business or commercial aims. We value our reputation, and we will not engage in any tax planning that threatens to undermine it. At the same time, our patient focus drives us to be financially efficient to allow investment in patient access and new therapeutic areas. The Group Tax Team, with our reputation in mind, employs diligent professional care and judgement in assessing tax risk, and may take advice from third-party specialists and HM Revenue and Customs (“HMRC”) to support the decision-making process. Significant tax decisions are subject to additional review and approval by the Chief Financial Officer (“CFO”), the Chief Executive Officer and the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors. We have a zero-tolerance approach to tax evasion and the facilitation of tax evasion.
We access government-sponsored tax incentives where appropriate and in line with substantive business activities (e.g., UK patent box and R&D Expenditure Credit).
Our approach to tax risk management and governance
Our approach to tax has been formalised and implemented across the Group through our Global Tax Policy which has been approved by the Group Controller. Our Global Tax Policy outlines the approval process for decisions that relate to tax, including when the Group Tax Team should be involved in business decisions and how we should manage our relationships with tax authorities. Our Global Tax Policy drives consistency in our approach to tax across the Group and drives compliance with all relevant tax laws, regulations, and obligations in each of the countries in which we operate.
Tax legislation can be complex and differs across the countries in which we operate. As such, tax risk can also arise due to differences in the interpretation of such legislation. Tax risk in each country in which we operate is managed through internal policies and processes to ensure we have alignment across our business and meet our tax obligations.
We seek to reduce potential tax risks as far as practically possible by ensuring appropriate contemporaneous documentation and controls are in place. We seek third-party advice on areas of complexity to ensure the resultant risks are appropriately mitigated. We do not take tax positions contrary to the intended purpose of the legislation.
We manage our cross border inter‐company pricing in accordance with authoritative guidelines (such as those issued by the OECD) and follow the arm’s length principle.
The Group Tax Team is responsible for the day-to-day management of the tax affairs aligned with our Global Tax Policy. Tax risk management is discussed periodically with the CFO and with the Audit Committee. The Board is ultimately accountable for the Group’s tax affairs.
Our Group Tax Team is embedded within our business and is regularly represented in decisions taken by other functions in order to appropriately consider the tax implications of significant business developments.
In executing the tax strategy, our Group Tax Team endeavours to prepare our tax returns accurately and submit them on a timely basis, including appropriate levels of review of the tax returns. The Group Tax Team actively monitors new tax legislation and any changes of interpretation of the existing legislation as part of preparation of the tax return. We seek third-party advice from external advisors on complex tax matters where necessary. These arrangements subject significant UK tax-related decisions to review and approval, facilitating that all UK tax obligations are met.
Our approach to engaging with tax authorities
We aim to maintain constructive and open relationships with Tax Authorities worldwide. The Group Tax Team engages openly and regularly with HMRC in the UK to review our business activities and to discuss any current, future, and past tax risks across all relevant UK taxes.
This tax strategy has been prepared in accordance with the requirements of paragraph 16 (2) contained in Schedule 19 of the Finance Act 2016. It has been approved by Indivior PLC’s Audit Committee under its delegated authority from the Board and relates to the Group’s year ended 31st December 2022.
