The power of principles

In a coffee shop, the other day, I overheard a mother and her teenaged daughter speaking. The mother asked her daughter why she was no longer eating meat, and the daughter said, simply, “Because I have principles.”

“I have principles,” may be a common refrain when one wants to explain why they do (or do not do) a particular thing, but few of us truly wear those principles on our sleeves. These days, many seem afraid to commit to an opinion at all. (Perhaps understandably, in light of the quick and sometimes ruthless scrutiny faced in a digital environment.) And far more binding than an opinion, a principle is personal and declarative. It is defined as a “fundamental truth or proposition that serves as the foundation for a system of belief.” It is powerful.

It seems to me that we would all have a lot more clarity if everyone could clearly and consistently articulate and stand behind these kinds of beliefs. To decide and declare what we stand for, and how and why we do certain things (and not others.) Just because we know we will need to evolve our principles over time does not mean that we should not be able to say what they are today.

The move towards greater transparency

When I moved into the role of Global Head of Tax at KPMG, it became clear that all across our member firms, there were indeed principles that were deeply entrenched in the way we worked. As a global network, we began to consider how, in a world driven by increasing transparency, we could be leaders in establishing firm and universal foundations as a framework for decision making and to direct behavior, and indeed, to declare formally some fundamental “truths” for our own global responsible tax approach. From this, our KPMG Tax Principles were born. Each of our 155 member firms around the world has committed to the principles, which I am pleased to share publicly here.

Responsible tax behaviour

Tax is, of course, a legal obligation and is governed by law; but taxpayers usually have choices, which affect their tax liability. So, responsible tax behavior and responsible tax advice each have ethical dimensions. This is true for all stakeholders in the debate, including governments, policy makers, civil society and the media, as well as taxpayers and advisers.

Principles matter.