Taxes in more details
PostNL is a multinational group that operates in several different jurisdictions. All these jurisdictions have their own tax regimes and tax types. A detailed overview of our way of working regarding these different tax regimes (e.g. tax risk management) and our tax metrics is given below.
Tax risk management
PostNL has a moderate appetite for tax risk. Nevertheless, PostNL operates on a global basis and, as such, is potentially exposed to different types of risks, including those related to taxation. Examples of such tax risks that occur or have occurred for PostNL are:
- Adverse decisions or interpretations of tax authorities on pending disputes;
- Changes in tax treaties, tax laws, OECD Guidelines, EU Directives and other rules could have a material adverse effect on PostNL’s net result and cash flow; and
- Potential DTA impairments, due the fact that business results do not meet expectations or changes in applicable national and international(tax) legislation.
We continuously monitor the processes for tax accounting, tax compliance and reporting, to identify and manage potential risks. In this respect we document every stage of the process. When we identify potential risks, we apply critical and professional reasoning on an issue-by-issue basis to balance the acceptable risk limits and mitigation to the extent possible. Identified tax risks and the tax control framework effectiveness is monitored and evaluated every quarter with the CFO. In addition, to support transparent financial reporting, PostNL follows IFRS and has implemented an effective tax-accounting control framework that assures compliance with the standards applicable under IFRS accounting.
Total tax contribution
PostNL is transparent about its plans, activities, results and contributions to society. Tax follows the business and we consider our tax payments as a contribution to the communities in which we operate. PostNL’s total tax contribution (TTC) endorses our values in this matter: tax is paid in the country where we operate. As PostNL is mainly operating from the Netherlands, the TTC is predominately paid to the Dutch tax authorities. Furthermore, PostNL strives to be as sustainable as possible and does not pay material environmental taxes in 2024. For more information we refer to the tables set out below.
PostNL General information in € million, unless indicated otherwise
| Year ended at 31 December | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Number of employees (average FTE) | 20,851 | 20,151 |
| Total revenue including interest | 3,184 | 3,275 |
| Profit before income taxes | 78 | 25 |
| Total income tax expense | 24 | 6 |
| Effective income tax rate | 30.6% | 25.2% |
The table below presents our total tax contribution for 2024. Given the different activities of PostNL, we pay a number of different taxes. In 2024, we paid €475 million in taxes (2023: €499 million). Below, we also present certain metrics per country.
PostNL Total revenue including interest by country
2024: €3,275 million (2023: €3,184 million)
PostNL Taxes paid by country
2024: €475 million (2023: €499 million)
PostNL Taxes paid by type
2024: €475 million (2023: €499 million)
PostNL Taxes paid by type in € million
| Year ended at 31 December | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Corporate income tax | 35 | 31 |
| Wage tax and social security contributions | 300 | 296 |
| VAT and sales tax | 143 | 128 |
| Dividend withholding tax | 2 | 2 |
| Other taxes | 17 | 19 |
| Total | 499 | 475 |
The comparison between 2023 and 2024 shows certain general changes in our tax metrics. Corporate income tax is comparable to 2023. VAT and sales tax decreased compared to 2023, mainly due to the lower business performance. Wage tax and social security contributions and the Other taxes are comparable in numbers to 2023.
Tax information per country
The vast majority of our business is concentrated in the Benelux. To provide transparency of our business, results and corresponding taxes on a per country basis, we provide a breakdown with general information and total tax contribution (borne and collected) as well as a list of group entities in appendix 4.
PostNL General information by country, in € million, unless indicated otherwise
| Country | Number of employees (average FTE) | Total revenue including interest | Profit/(loss) before income taxes | Total income tax expense | Effective income tax rate (in %) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Netherlands | 19,125 | 2,718 | 10 | 4 | 41.8% |
| Belgium | 602 | 86 | 9 | 3 | 30.0% |
| France | 13 | 12 | 0 | (0) | -177.8% |
| Germany | 97 | 53 | 0 | (1) | -194.4% |
| Italy | 29 | 23 | 1 | 0 | 10.4% |
| Great Britain | 64 | 40 | 0 | (0) | -35.0% |
| Switzerland | 6 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 15.5% |
| Spain | 94 | 53 | 0 | (0) | -19.9% |
| Hungary | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 32.2% |
| Czech Republic | 20 | 21 | (0) | (0) | 242.3% |
| Poland | 7 | 4 | (0) | 0 | -10378.7% |
| Russian Federation | 0 | (0) | (0) | 0 | -479.8% |
| United States | 22 | 14 | 2 | 1 | 27.9% |
| Canada | 26 | 26 | 0 | (1) | -280.1% |
| Hong Kong | 36 | 221 | 1 | 0 | 24.6% |
| Singapore | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8.1% |
| Total 2024 | 20,151 | 3,275 | 25 | 6 | 25.2% |
PostNL Total tax contribution (borne & collected) in € million
| Country | Corporate income tax | Wage tax and social security contributions | VAT and sales tax | Dividend withholding tax | Other taxes | Total tax contribution1 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| borne | collected | borne | collected | borne | collected | borne | collected | borne | collected | borne2 | collected3 | |
| Netherlands | 10 | (29) | 127 | (274) | 15 | (139) | 0 | (2) | 6 | (18) | 158 | (463) |
| Belgium | 2 | (1) | 11 | (17) | 0 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 1 | (1) | 13 | (5) |
| France | 0 | 0 | 0 | (0) | 0 | (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | (2) |
| Germany | 0 | 0 | 3 | (3) | 0 | (6) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | (8) |
| Italy | 0 | 0 | 0 | (0) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Great Britain | 0 | 0 | 0 | (1) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | (0) |
| Switzerland | 0 | (0) | 0 | (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | (0) | 0 | 0 | (0) |
| Spain | 0 | 0 | 1 | (1) | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Hungary | 0 | (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | (0) | 0 | 0 |
| Czech Republic | 0 | (0) | 0 | (0) | 0 | (0) | 0 | 0 | (0) | (0) | 0 | (0) |
| Poland | 0 | (0) | 0 | (0) | 0 | (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | (0) | 0 | (1) |
| Russian Federation | 0 | 0 | 0 | (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | (0) |
| United States | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | (0) | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Canada | 0 | (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | (0) | 0 | 0 | (0) |
| Hong Kong | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Singapore | 0 | (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | (0) | 0 | 0 | (0) |
| Total 2024 | 134 | (31) | 142 | (296) | 16 | (128) | 0 | (2) | 7 | (19) | 178 | (475)5 |
- Zero amounts in this table are mainly the result of rounding in € million and therefore representing smaller amounts.
- Taxes borne represent the taxes that are an expense/(income) item as included in the income statement.
- Taxes collected represent the taxes (paid)/received included in our cash flow, also representing payments made on behalf of other parties.
- The difference between the corporate income tax borne (€13 million) and the total income tax expense (€6 million) is due to changes in deferred taxes, see note 2.4.2 to the Consolidated financial statements.
- In 2024, as in 2023, we applied several tax allowances provided by law (e.g., the energy- and environmental investment allowance in the Netherlands). Tax incentives provided by law are not separately included in the table above.