On 28 September 2021, more than five years after it was first tabled, the so-called “public Country-by-Country Reporting (CbCR) directive” was finally adopted by the EU Council under qualified majority voting.
Following long debates among the EU institutions and the Member States on the need for such a measure (why should multinationals publish information already exchanged between tax authorities?) and on the requirements for its adoption (unanimity vs. majority), the public disclosures of big multinational companies will be increased once again.
The public CbCR directive will amend the EU Directive 2013/34 (the “Accounting Directive”) so as to require certain multinationals with revenues of more than EUR 750 million to publicly disclose the corporate income tax that they pay. Non-EU multinationals doing business in the EU through subsidiaries and branches will also have to comply with the same reporting obligations as EU multinational undertakings. The reporting will have to take place within 12 months of the date of the balance sheet for the financial year in question. Member States will have 18 months from the entry into force of the directive to transpose it into national law.