Akiko Sumikawa
Head of Transfer Pricing
London, United Kingdom
Not only do we work cross-functionally but also across borders. One moment we may be discussing local competitors in India, or understanding business developments in the Netherlands, and the next, analysing a US-Brazil transaction.
I joined RELX's tax team in 2017 to head up Transfer Pricing. Prior to this I worked for WPP, Standard Chartered and Deloitte.
Simply put, transfer pricing is how we allocate costs and revenues within and across our business areas. Depending on how we allocate, the countries where we pay tax can vary significantly. There are global standards specifying the right way to allocate. However, there is room for interpretation and there are companies out there who have received negative media coverage from allegations that they have artificially shifted profit to low tax countries.
At RELX, we follow our publicly stated Tax Principles, and do not artificially shift revenue or cost to avoid tax. We follow where value is created by the business, and the more our transfer pricing policies match how our products, services, technology, data, content and people interact to deliver value, the better position we are in if our transfer pricing is challenged.
This can sometimes be easier said than done. In the relatively short time I have been with the company, I see that our businesses are dynamic and constantly innovating. We are keen to understand these developments and trends to help ensure our transfer pricing policies are forward looking and in keeping with how the business develops. Like all other RELX corporate functions we are a small team - constantly striving to improve efficiency by prioritising, standardising, simplifying and automating.
Not only do we work cross-functionally but also across borders. One moment we may be discussing local competitors in India, or understanding business developments in the Netherlands, and the next, analysing a US-Brazil transaction.
Even though we are a small team, we benefit from having diverse backgrounds and experience within the wider tax team. Collectively, we have experience in 24 countries and from non-tax backgrounds including journalism, fraud investigation, and even a former sonar technician. As outlandish as that last one sounds, it means being able to appreciate different perspectives and the value diversity brings.
In my spare time, as much as I would like to say that I have a quirky hobby like extreme ironing or deep-water marine sudoku, I am a simple person that loves to eat and travel. In the past I was a more adventurous traveller and eater, having tried grasshoppers in Mexico, manti in Uzbekistan, yak curd in Mongolia, halwa in Oman, idli with dhal in Sri Lanka, and durian in Malaysia (it tastes how it smells). These days the travel is more routine - London tube from zone 5 to zone 1 - but you can find me at a street food stall serving arancini nearby…