GRI 103-1 Explanation of the material topic and its boundary
SFS’ economic performance and the value it generates for all stakeholders is at the center of its business operations and decisions. The value it creates on behalf of its stakeholder groups – customers, suppliers, employees, investors and the state or political communities in which the company is active – is reflected, for example, in the form of wages, dividends or tax revenues. SFS refrains from harmful tax practices and arrangements and it pays taxes in the jurisdictions where it generates economic value. SFS Group has reported the amount of taxes it has paid in foreign countries to the Federal Tax Administration since 2017 within the framework of country-by-country reports. Two factors contributed to the significant reduction in total taxes effectively paid in fiscal 2019 from the previous fiscal year. One was a change in Switzerland’s tax system that led to a lower tax rate for SFS and the other concerned one-time effects in the United States that led to a decline in the amount of taxes paid there. The decline in taxes paid in 2019 was therefore not the result of a change in the company’s tax practices. SFS expects its future effective tax rate to be about 17.5%.
See also Financial Report ("Information for shareholders", p. 104 et seq.)