Butternut Box: Our Group Tax Strategy

At Butternut Box, we are on a mission to deliver health and happiness to dogs and their humans everywhere. To do that right, we know that what goes on behind the scenes matters just as much as what goes into our bowls. That means running our business with the same care, transparency, and high standards our community expects from us.

This document sets out the tax strategy for Dogmates Holdings Ltd (trading as Butternut Box) and all its subsidiary group entities listed below. It is published to fulfill our statutory duties under Schedule 19 of the UK Finance Act 2016 for the financial year ending 28th December 2025.

Our Overriding Objective

Our primary objective is to manage our tax affairs in strict accordance with the spirit and letter of the law. We are committed to paying the right amount of tax, in the right place, at the right time, while supporting our broader commercial goal of feeding dogs high quality, freshly prepared meals.

1. Effective Management of Tax Risks & Governance

Building a sustainable business requires strong control structures. We maintain an internal accounting and tax governance control framework to ensure we accurately capture and report our financial obligations across our manufacturing, supply chain, and subscription networks.

• Accountability: Ultimate responsibility for our tax strategy sits with our Board of Directors and our Chief Financial Officer. Material tax positions and compliance health are reviewed regularly by our finance leadership team.

• Our Day-to-Day Standards: The operational management of our tax affairs is led by our Head of Tax, supported by our internal finance team. We actively monitor our Senior Accounting Officer (SAO) obligations, maintaining a continuous review programme to test our internal financial controls.

• Professional Support: Taxation can be highly technical. Where legislation is complex or requires niche expertise, our Head of Tax partners with qualified external advisors to support our compliance and keep our processes aligned with best practice standards.

2. Our Approach to Tax Planning & Commercial Alignment

Our tax planning is entirely business driven, aligning directly with our physical operations from scaling our production kitchens to expanding our delivery footprint.

• No Performance Drivers: In line with responsible corporate governance, our tax and finance teams have zero performance objectives or KPIs tied to reducing effective tax rates or minimising absolute tax payments.

• Legitimate Incentives: We utilise government backed tax incentives where they naturally support our business growth. This includes claiming capital allowances on our specialised kitchen infrastructure and utilising R&D tax credits to support our veterinary, nutritional, technological and recipe innovations.

• International Structure: As we grow the business internationally, we follow standard OECD transfer pricing principles. This ensures our profits are allocated and taxed transparently where the actual economic activity and value creation take place.

• Protecting Our Community: We do not enter into artificial tax avoidance schemes or use aggressive, contrived structures that lack commercial substance. Every financial arrangement we make must reflect genuine commercial reality.

3. The Level of Tax Risk We Are Prepared to Accept

We have a low appetite for tax risk. Taking shortcuts with compliance goes entirely against our core brand values and would jeopardise the trust our community places in us.

Operating a modern, D2C supply chain means navigating changing regulations. Where the tax treatment of a specific transaction or operational change is uncertain, we do not guess. Our Head of Tax looks to resolve the matter before proceeding, utilising expert external opinions or seeking direct clarity from tax authorities.

4. Working Responsibly with HMRC

We view regulatory bodies as partners in keeping our industry fair and transparent. Our relationship with His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and other tax authorities is built on professional respect, openness, and cooperation.

• Accurate Compliance: We work to ensure that all tax returns, statistical submissions, and payments are submitted accurately and on time.

• Early Dialogue: We aim to discuss complex or material tax matters with HMRC at an early stage, ideally in advance of implementation, to ensure complete alignment.

• Voluntary Disclosure: If we ever discover an inadvertent error or miscalculation in our reporting, we commit to making full, voluntary disclosure to correct the situation immediately and update our internal controls to ensure it doesn't happen again.

Appendix: Entities Covered by this Strategy

This group tax strategy applies to Dogmates Holdings Ltd and its connected group companies, which include (but are not limited to) the following entities:

• Dogmates Holdings Ltd

• Dogmates Ltd

• Butternut Box GbBH

• Dogmates sp. z o.o.

• Butternut Box (Italy) s.r.l

• Dogmates (Ireland) Limited

• Dogmates (Netherlands) BV

• Feedwell sp. z o.o.

• Butternut (Belgium) BV

• Psibufet s.r.o

This strategy was formally reviewed and approved by the Board of Directors of Dogmates Holdings Ltd on 1st July 2026 and will be updated annually.