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CEMEX Tax Strategy

Cemex worldwide group is a global building materials provider with a presence in more than 50 countries. Cemex started as a local cement producer in Mexico in 1906 and the headquarters remain there today. The worldwide group is listed on New York stock exchange.

In the UK the principal Cemex trading company is Cemex UK Operations Ltd. Its core operations are the extraction, processing and distribution of building materials (cement, concrete and aggregates) across the UK. The nature of our trade means that, in operational respects, materially all of our transactions are local rather than cross border.

The law requires companies such as ours to set out their tax strategy, and Cemex welcomes the opportunity to explain our approach to tax management

The Cemex group of companies in the UK prides itself on its transparent and collaborative relationship with the UK tax authorities. We work hard to ensure that our practices are fair and robust so that the direct and indirect taxes we pay as a company and employer are right, paid at the right time and in compliance with the legislation, international treaties and OECD guidelines.

The CEMEX tax strategy has been reviewed and remains applicable for the year ended 31st December 2024.

Approach to risk management and governance

To be able to calculate the right amount of tax we need robust and reliable financial information. At Cemex we devote a lot of time and resources into ensuring that this is so.

The Cemex worldwide group is listed on the Mexican Stock Exchange (Bolsa Mexicana de Valores - BVM) and on the New York stock exchange (NYSE). As a result of being listed on the NYSE, Cemex is required to comply with the Sarbanes Oxley Act 2002. Therefore, in addition to the usual UK accounting and auditing standards applicable to all companies, the Cemex group is held to an additional and arguably higher standard in its accounting processes and controls than most other UK companies because of the need to conform to the Sarbanes Oxley Act. This gives additional confidence in the accuracy of the data which is used by the tax team to complete their tax returns.

Our Senior Accounting Officer (per Sch 46 Finance Act 2009) in the UK oversees the general finance function, its controls and compliance with them, and reports to the UK Board. Compliance with accounting controls is rigorously tested by the local internal control team, then by the central internal control team reporting to the Board in Mexico, and also by external independent auditors.

The approach by Cemex is to draw on the knowledge of both its in-house tax team and also external tax experts.

The efficiency and expertise of our in-house tax team is ensured through availability to resources, training, systems and continuous professional development.

Reviews of tax risk start at the ground level with the local in-house tax team who are appropriately qualified and experienced in tax whenever new and significant transactions are made by the business to evaluate what tax risk, if any, there is.

When appropriate, the reviews continue up to regional level with the Regional Head of Tax and then on to a very senior level with the Senior Vice President of Tax reporting directly to the Board.

Therefore risk is assessed and managed both on a local and, when appropriate, international level.