Shell publishes new Tax Contribution Report

“Transparency is important for Shell - showing who we are and what we do is one of the best ways we can demonstrate the many contributions we make to society,” said Jessica Uhl, Shell Chief Financial Officer. “We hope that this report will help to create a better understanding of our businesses and the taxes we pay.”

The Tax Contribution Report provides information about the corporate income tax Shell paid in countries and locations in which we have a taxable presence across all our businesses.

In 2018, Shell companies paid $10.1 billion in corporate income tax and $5.8 billion in royalties around the world. On behalf of governments, we also collected some $48.2 billion in excise duties, sales taxes and similar levies on our fuel and other products.

Shell’s overall effective tax rate was 32.9% in 2018.*

Shell is committed to tax compliance. We seek to comply with the applicable tax laws in all the countries and locations where we have a taxable presence. In 2018, we endorsed a set of responsible tax principles developed by the B Team, a not-for-profit organisation whose mission is to help companies establish responsible business practices.

The Tax Contribution Report is part of Shell’s commitment to these principles and includes country-by-country report data.

The Shell Tax Contribution Report complements other publications such as our Sustainability Report, Industry Associations Climate Review, Payments to Governments Report, Energy Transition Report and Ethics and Compliance Manual.

To read the Tax Contribution Report, go to www.shell.com/taxcontributionreport

*Effective tax rate

This percentage is calculated by dividing the $11.7 billion tax charge reported in our 2018 Annual Report and 20-F by the profit before tax, based on international accounting standards. The tax charge is the amount of corporate income tax we expect will be due on current-year profits. The tax charge will be paid in current or later years in line with local tax regulations.

B Team Responsible Tax Principles

The B Team Responsible Tax Principles were developed with a group of leading companies, along with involvement from civil society, investors and representatives from international institutions. They cover areas such as tax management, interactions with authorities and other stakeholders, and reporting. We invite companies to endorse these principles and work towards reflecting them in their company practices.

Country-by-country reporting

Country-by-country reporting (CbCR) is a standard formulated by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Under Action 13 of the base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) package, all large multinational enterprises are required to prepare CbCR aggregated data for revenue, profit, taxes paid and economic activity among tax jurisdictions in which they operate. This CbCR is shared with tax administrations for use in high-level transfer pricing and BEPS risk assessments.

Royal Dutch Shell plc is incorporated in England and Wales, has its headquarters in The Hague and its securities are listed on the London, Amsterdam, and New York stock exchanges. Shell companies have operations in more than 70 countries and territories with businesses including oil and gas exploration and production; production and marketing of liquefied natural gas and gas to liquids; manufacturing, marketing and shipping of oil products and chemicals and renewable energy projects. For further information, visit www.shell.com.

The companies in which Royal Dutch Shell plc directly and indirectly owns investments are separate legal entities. In this release “Shell”, “Shell group” and “Royal Dutch Shell” are sometimes used for convenience where references are made to Royal Dutch Shell plc and its subsidiaries in general. Likewise, the words “we”, “us” and “our” are also used to refer to subsidiaries in general or to those who work for them. These expressions are also used where no useful purpose is served by identifying the particular company or companies. ‘‘Subsidiaries’’, “Shell subsidiaries” and “Shell companies” as used in this release refer to companies over which Royal Dutch Shell plc either directly or indirectly has control. Entities and unincorporated arrangements over which Shell has joint control are generally referred to as “joint ventures” and “joint operations” respectively. Entities over which Shell has significant influence but neither control nor joint control are referred to as “associates”. The term “Shell interest” is used for convenience to indicate the direct and/or indirect ownership interest held by Shell in a venture, partnership or company, after exclusion of all third-party interest.

This release contains forward-looking statements concerning the financial condition, results of operations and businesses of Royal Dutch Shell. All statements other than statements of historical fact are, or may be deemed to be, forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements of future expectations that are based on management’s current expectations and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in these statements. Forward-looking statements include, among other things, statements concerning the potential exposure of Royal Dutch Shell to market risks and statements expressing management’s expectations, beliefs, estimates, forecasts, projections and assumptions. These forward-looking statements are identified by their use of terms and phrases such as ‘‘anticipate’’, ‘‘believe’’, ‘‘could’’, ‘‘estimate’’, ‘‘expect’’, ‘‘goals’’, ‘‘intend’’, ‘‘may’’, ‘‘objectives’’, ‘‘outlook’’, ‘‘plan’’, ‘‘probably’’, ‘‘project’’, ‘‘risks’’, “schedule”, ‘‘seek’’, ‘‘should’’, ‘‘target’’, ‘‘will’’ and similar terms and phrases. There are a number of factors that could affect the future operations of Royal Dutch Shell and could cause those results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements included in this release, including (without limitation): (a) price fluctuations in crude oil and natural gas; (b) changes in demand for Shell’s products; (c) currency fluctuations; (d) drilling and production results; (e) reserves estimates; (f) loss of market share and industry competition; (g) environmental and physical risks; (h) risks associated with the identification of suitable potential acquisition properties and targets, and successful negotiation and completion of such transactions; (i) the risk of doing business in developing countries and countries subject to international sanctions; (j) legislative, fiscal and regulatory developments including regulatory measures addressing climate change; (k) economic and financial market conditions in various countries and regions; (l) political risks, including the risks of expropriation and renegotiation of the terms of contracts with governmental entities, delays or advancements in the approval of projects and delays in the reimbursement for shared costs; and (m) changes in trading conditions. All forward-looking statements contained in this release are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained or referred to in this section. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Additional risk factors that may affect future results are contained in Royal Dutch Shell’s 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2018 (available at www.shell.com/investor and www.sec.gov). These risk factors also expressly qualify all forward looking statements contained in this release and should be considered by the reader. Each forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of this release, December 17, 2019. Neither Royal Dutch Shell plc nor any of its subsidiaries undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or other information. In light of these risks, results could differ materially from those stated, implied or inferred from the forward-looking statements contained in this release.

We may have used certain terms, such as resources, in this release that United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) strictly prohibits us from including in our filings with the SEC. U.S. Investors are urged to consider closely the disclosure in our Form 20-F, File No 1-32575, available on the SEC website www.sec.gov.