AXA Group Tax Policy

Both as a multinational company and as a provider of investments and savings products, the AXA Group strives for a responsible and transparent approach to tax matters. AXA is committed to complying with all the tax rules applicable to all the countries in which the Group operates.

The taxes AXA pays are a sizable part of its wider economic and social impact and play a key role in developing the countries where it operates¹. AXA regards this impact as a critical element of its commitment to growing in a sustainable, responsible and socially inclusive way.

Overall, the AXA Tax Community is composed of around 150 qualified professionals. The AXA Group Tax Department reports directly to the Group Chief Financial Officer, a member of the Group’s Management Committee, and in most countries and business lines, the local tax team reports to the local Chief Financial Officer. The Group’s formal internal review and sign‑off process ensures all tax matters require the Chief Financial Officer’s validation.

AXA squares its responsibilities as a co‑operative, compliant taxpayer in each and every country in which it operates while supporting competitive business growth - serving all its stakeholders, namely investors, suppliers and employees. The Group seeks an open dialogue with all its stakeholders, from relevant tax authorities and shareholders to regulators.

The Group Tax Policy is presented to the Group Audit Committee annually and is submitted to the Group CEO for a formal yearly validation.

Tax aspects in relation to AXA as a multinational company

The AXA Group’s approach to tax issues

In addition to being a taxpayer in respect of its worldwide operations, AXA collects tax amounts levied on customers’ insurance and reinsurance policies for remittance to the relevant state and federal administrations.

The tax function in the Group is organized to aim for full compliance with all tax legislation in the countries where AXA operates. Beyond the Group Tax Department based in France, all key operational entities/countries/geographic zones have a tax team in charge of ensuring that all the entities fully understand and comply with their specific tax regulations as well as any Group tax guidelines.

A dedicated internal tax control program, within the Group’s wider global internal control framework assessment, has been implemented. This program ensures every tax team documents and reports on a series of controls that demonstrate their full compliance. Additionally, the Global Head of Tax, who heads the worldwide tax function, briefs the Group Audit Committee on major tax topics, notably ongoing tax audits and litigation, as well as tax reforms, at least once a year.

The Group Tax Code of Ethics, which the Group Tax Department developed in collaboration with local tax teams, highlights the principles guiding the tax teams’ actions:

• staying up to date with applicable laws and regulations;
• complying with tax laws and regulations;
• maintaining a good relationship with the local tax authorities; and
• avoiding aggressive tax‑driven transactions that could compromise the good reputation of the Group, or otherwise put the Group at risk.

In keeping with its objective of maintaining a good relationship with tax authorities, when necessary, the AXA Group may solicit an early confirmation of an upcoming applicable tax treatment from tax authorities based on full disclosure of all relevant facts and circumstances. In addition, AXA seeks to build trust‑based relationships with tax authorities and therefore to adhere, whenever possible, to cooperative compliance programs or similar initiatives in countries in which it operates.

The AXA tax teams are to commit to the Group Code of Ethics prior to undertaking any of their activities. Furthermore, (i) every Head of Tax conducts an annual certification of their team’s practices that is in turn submitted to the Group Tax Department and (ii) the Group Tax Department, along with every local team, conducts a bi‑annual tax review process of every major entity or business line. During these reviews, specific attention is given to tax audits and associated tax risks as well as to market positions on tax matters that may impact AXA. These reviews provide the tax teams with a global framework to identify, analyze, control, and report tax risks.

Lastly, an International Tax Committee composed of several senior tax executives across the Group meets every quarter to ensure a consistent approach on technical topics and agreements on guidelines, when necessary, connected to specific items.

As an international group operating in numerous countries, the AXA Group is subject to multiple tax regimes and regulations and is attentive to tax law changes. The Group is particularly alert to any changes that could result in higher taxes or higher compliance costs, or that might affect the Group’s tax liability, return on investments and business operations. For further information, please see Section 5.1.2.3 - Regulatory and litigation‑related risks “Changes in tax laws, regulations or interpretations or uncertainties in the interpretation of certain tax requirements may result in adverse consequences to our business and our results of operations”.

When AXA entities consider how to structure commercial arrangements, tax implications are analyzed in parallel with capital efficiency and legal and regulatory aspects to fully assess and differentiate the alternative arrangements.

AXA has no licensed insurance or operating business activities in so‑called non‑cooperative jurisdictions² other than Panama under French and European rules. AXA’s presence in Panama is solely driven by operational purposes. It holds two non‑consolidated operating companies with around 47 employees there. One provides assistance services to local customers, and the other delivers health claim services.

In addition, AXA holds a minority financial investment in Reso Garantia, a Russian insurance company.

On the whole, AXA does not use any non‑cooperative jurisdictions to avoid taxes on any of its operational activities performed elsewhere.

When AXA operates in countries with tax rates lower than in France, its presence is driven by business operations. AXA has been operating in this mode in Bermuda, where nearly 130 AXA XL employees work, since the acquisition of the XL Group in September 2018. Bermuda is a center of expertise and one of the key jurisdictions in the worldwide reinsurance market that proposes flexible local capital management regulations for the capital required for reinsurance activities. Previously a low‑tax jurisdiction, at the end of 2023, Bermuda enacted a tax reform to institute a corporate tax at 15% as of January 1, 2025. Under French and EU laws, Bermuda is not considered a non‑cooperative jurisdiction.

Disclosure on tax matters and information on taxes connected with the Group’s activities in each country

The consolidated financial statements are prepared in compliance with IFRS standards as stated in Section 6.6 - Note 1 - Accounting principles of Annual Report. Accounting for income tax recognizes both the current tax consequences of transactions and events and the future tax consequences of the future recovery or settlement of the carrying amount of the entity’s assets and liabilities, as required by IAS  12 (see Section 6.6 of Annual Report).

The Consolidated Financial Statements present the reconciliation between the theoretical tax charge and the effective tax charge under IFRS. All differences are fully explained in Section 6.6 of Annual Report. It should be noted that in many jurisdictions where AXA operates, the income and capital gains on savings products benefit from a favorable tax treatment, even when such products are included in life insurance products. This leads to a lower effective tax rate for life insurance companies.

In addition to the details provided on the Group effective tax rate, AXA reports substantial information on the impacts of any change in local tax regulations on its business, as well as specifying the tax burden per line of business and per country. AXA’s income tax expenses/benefits are extensively explained in Annual Report and are broken down by business segment and country. Each one features a dedicated paragraph to make the Tax Income line clear (see Section 2.3 - Activity report of Annual Report).

Since 2019, AXA has published an annual tax transparency report to provide information on its tax footprint in its key geographies along with the key principles of its tax policy. Since its 2021 edition, AXA’s Tax Transparency Report has also included the Group Country‑by‑Country Report (“CBCR”). AXA’s Tax Transparency Report, the latest edition of which was published in June 2026, is available on the AXA website (www.axa.com) at the bottom of the AXA Group Tax Policy page.

Tax aspects of activities and products offered by the Group

Activities of the Group

The Group’s activities are subject to strict regulations and rigorous control in every territory where AXA operates. In addition to these external regulations, AXA has developed a set of detailed internal guidelines for all the Group entities that are managed or controlled by AXA, regardless of the activities the entity undertakes or its ownership structure.

According to these internal standards, Chief Executive Officers must ensure that staff are fully conversant, and comply with applicable laws, mandatory Codes of Conduct, rules and regulations (including applicable tax laws and regulations) relevant to their area of operations.

This means that local senior management must be fully versed on the tax implications of their entity’s activities. The main considerations are:

• compliance with the taxation of employees in the territory in which the latter are employed;
• compliance with the taxation of the business undertaken in the territory (including levies and sales taxes); and
• cross‑border tax issues.

A specific focus on transfer pricing is included in these standards, to ensure to pay adequate tax on profits where the value is created and to show that the pricing of our intra‑group activities is consistent with the OECD “arm’s length” principle as well as with the local transfer pricing rules.

In particular, Chief Financial Officers must ensure that the contracted insurance and reinsurance policies represent a true transfer of risk and that these insurance or reinsurance contracts could not be challenged. Business between Group companies must be transacted at market prices wherever a market price exists, and, in the absence of market prices, the prices charged are to be formally documented.

Products offered by the Group

AXA products are not designed to allow or encourage tax evasion. The Group has put into place a validation framework to ensure all new products undergo a thorough approval process before they go to market.

The local decision to launch a new product is subject to a review and approval process that complies with the AXA Group’s standards in terms of product features, pricing, asset‑liability management as well as all the legal, compliance, regulatory, accounting and reputation requirements.

AXA has also established strict cross‑border and “know your customer” policies, to ensure that our products and services (i) are not misused for money laundering or tax evasion purposes and (ii) are subject to verifications in which cross‑border life insurance proposals must be presented to the Group Tax and Compliance Departments for validation.

While all Group entities are to comply with local regulations, the Group Tax Department can furthermore veto a product if this product fails to comply with internal rules.

The AXA Group complies with tax transparency standards and regulations including the OECD Standard for Automatic Exchange of Financial Information (“Common Reporting Standard”), the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (“FATCA”), and the DAC 6 EU directive (declaration of tax schemes considered to be aggressive in the European Union).

In its compliance with these standards and regulations, the Group may, as a provider of investments and savings products, have tax reporting obligations with respect to certain cross‑border products it designs or implements. In particular, certain investments and savings products with no particular tax motive may be reportable under the above‑mentioned standards and/or regulations.

Since the entry into force of these regulations, the AXA Group has ensured that it has a compliance system in place, including procedures and adapted controls.

1.The Group’s main subsidiaries and participating interests are listed in Appendix III “AXA parent Company financial statements” of Annual Report. The legal Shares, share capital and general information 7.3 General information 7 organizational chart of the Group is also published on AXA's website (www.axa.com).

2.The list of non‑cooperative jurisdictions under French tax rules is given by a ministerial decree dated February 12, 2010 as last amended by a ministerial 7 Shares, share capital and general information 7.3 General information decree dated April 18, 2025 (published to the Official Journal as of May 7, 2025) consistent with the last European Union list dated October 8, 2024, and is composed of the following countries: American Samoa, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Fiji, Guam, Palau, Panama, Russia, Samoa, Trinidad and Tobago, the Turks and Caicos Islands, the United States Virgin Islands and Vanuatu. Pursuant to article 238‑0 A of the French Tax Code, this list is updated at least once a year and any update must include the states and jurisdictions on the blacklist set out in Annex I to the conclusions adopted by the Council of the European Union on December 5, 2017, as updated from time to time.