Introduction

Woh Hup Holdings Pte Limited (“Woh Hup”) is incorporated in Singapore.  It directly or indirectly owns several subsidiaries in the United Kingdom and throughout the world.

This document applies to the UK subsidiaries of Woh Hup (“the UK Group”) and sets out the UK Group’s strategy and approach to conducting its tax affairs and dealing with tax risk.  This tax strategy applies from the date of its publication until it is superseded.

This document is approved by the Woh Hup UK's Board of Directors.  It is reviewed annually, and any necessary amendments are reviewed and approved by the Board of Directors.

There is not a single UK holding company and instead a mixture of UK sub-groups and sister companies.  The tax strategy of all UK sub-groups and sister companies is the same and is detailed in the below document.  The head companies of the UK sub-groups and the sister companies publishing this tax strategy (including their respective UK subsidiaries and corporate joint ventures) are: L&S Student Ltd, UK Student Ventures Ltd, UK Student Developments Ltd, St Vincent’s Ltd, St Vincent’s Works Ltd, L&S Edinburgh Westfield Ltd, and L&S Glasgow Finnieston Ltd.

The Tax Strategy has been prepared in accordance with the requirements set out in Schedule 19 Finance Act 2016, which requires large businesses in the UK to publish their tax strategy.

Compliance with tax law and regulations

Woh Hup has a low appetite towards tax risk.

Woh Hup is committed to ensuring compliance with the applicable tax laws, regulations and practices in each country in which its group operates, including the United Kingdom.  This includes the disclosure of all relevant facts and circumstances to the tax authorities.  Given the nature of our operations in property development and construction, this commitment extends to specialised industry tax regimes, including the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS), the VAT domestic reverse charge for construction services, and real estate transactional taxes.  Considering evolving legislative changes, we maintain robust due diligence procedures.

Effective risk management and governance

Tax risk management is integrated into the Group’s overall risk framework, overseen by the Board of Directors.  A key part of the risk framework is a quarterly compliance report to the Board of Directors, which includes an update on tax matters.

The Group takes a conservative approach to tax risk by ensuring that reasonable care is applied in relation to all processes which could materially affect its compliance with its tax obligations.  External tax advisers are used for tax compliance matters and in determining the tax consequences of significant transactions, overseen by experienced in-house transaction and finance teams.

The UK Group’s risk management is based on advice and judgement of appropriate external specialists that have expertise in the UK tax regime.

Where the tax treatment of any material transaction is uncertain, external advice will be sought and considered before a decision is made whether to proceed with the transaction.

The UK Group is responsive to external advice to ensure continuing compliance and updates controls when required.  All material matters are approved by the Board of Directors.

Responsible attitude to arranging tax affairs

When entering into commercial transactions, the UK Group engages in standard tax planning to make use of available tax incentives, reliefs, and exemptions.  Tax incentives and reliefs will be applied in the manner intended by the underlying legislation.

The UK Group’s policy is not to enter into any artificial or aggressive tax planning arrangements, or arrangements that are not underpinned by genuine commercial rationale.

Relationship with UK tax authorities

Woh Hup is committed to openness and transparency in dealing with tax authorities.  The UK Group is supported by local advisors who engage with HM Revenue & Customs (“HMRC”) on a real-time basis to minimise tax risk.

The UK Group does not have a designated Customer Compliance Manager and therefore does not have additional regular meetings or interaction with HMRC.

We will engage with HMRC with honesty, integrity, respect and fairness and in a spirit of co-operative compliance.  We aim to achieve early resolution and certainty on any tax matters wherever possible.

Pillar 2 compliance

The Group recognises the UK’s adoption of the OECD Pillar 2 GloBE rules.  We are committed to monitoring our obligations and submitting Pillar 2 returns accurately and on time.