Brussels, 28/09/2015 (Agence Europe) - The corporate sector does not want the EU to go beyond the OECD standard on 'country-by-country' reporting of tax information, the European Commission is reported to have explained last week, at a meeting of the Platform for Tax Good Governance.
The Directorate General Financial Services of the Commission (DG FISMA) reportedly explained that 422 contributions to its public consultation on this dossier had been received, but that only 282 respondents had agreed for their positions to be made public (see EUROPE 11396). The figures published must therefore be taken with a large pinch of salt.
At the meeting of the Platform on Thursday 24 September, FISMA explained that of the 422 responses, half of them came from private individuals.
The results show that these private individuals believe that the EU should go beyond international standards, but that the reporting should not necessarily be published (the OECD provides for reporting to administrations). The NGOs and unions are calling for public reporting. Lastly, businesses feel that the EU should not go further than the OECD.
Readers may recall that Action 13 of the OECD's action plan on base erosion and profit shifting, 'BEPS', provides for multinational companies with turnover of more than €750 million to provide the tax administrations with information such as their income or pre-tax losses, tax paid, number of employees, etc. Germany, France and Ireland are also in favour of reporting to the administrations. The European Parliament is calling for public reporting and has made this a priority in the framework of negotiations with the Council and the Commission, due to start this Wednesday, on the 'shareholders' rights' directive. BusinessEurope (European employers' association) is reported to have asked the Commission to look at what is happening in the US and to take account of the competitiveness of the EU. MEDEF (French employers' association) argues that the banking sector cannot be compared to other sectors. From this year onwards, banks have had to publish certain data of the same type under CRDIV. The Federation of European Accountants calls for a single global model, to avoid duplications. The Christian charity organisation Christian Aid points out that if the EU applied reporting to American companies based in Europe, the US would be forced to follow suit.
The Commission's impact study into reporting will come to an end in the first half of 2016. So far, only the Commissioner for Taxation, Pierre Moscovici, has publicly stated his personal preference for public reporting. Although this is more a matter for company law, he will be involved with this work, he recently confirmed. The trialogue on the 'shareholders' rights' directive is proving tough, for its part. The Luxembourg Presidency has sounded out the member states. The vast majority of them are not happy to see taxation issues being included in dossiers to be voted on by qualified majority, or that the European Parliament, which has no co-decision powers on taxation policy, is trying to influence the work through dossiers under co-decision.
The Platform's work could also lead to other initiatives on tax rulings, such as the publication of these rulings or the drafting of guidelines. (Original version in French by Elodie Lamer)