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  • 25-02-2021 17:15

EU/Presidency: Portugal gets support for multinational company tax transparency


Brussels, Feb. 25, 2021 (Lusa) - The Portuguese presidency of the Council of the European Union on Thursday got "large majority" support to move forward on the European public country-by-country reporting directive, which aims to make multinationals publish information on where they make profits and pay taxes.

"I am happy to say that we got great support today, by a large majority of member states, and we will issue conclusions that will be forwarded to the ambassadors to the EU for formal decisions to be adopted after these strong political guidelines," the minister of economy and digital transition, Pedro Siza Vieira, told reporters.

Speaking at a press conference after the informal meeting of the internal market and industry ministers, held by videoconference, the minister indicated that despite this "broad support given by member states" to the Portuguese presidency, the negotiation mandate on the 'Public country-by-country reporting' directive would only be formalised in the coming days.

"We still have a few steps to take in the legislative process, but we can take these steps quickly", Siza Vieira said, showing that he was "confident of approval" for the Council to negotiate in trialogue with the European Parliament and the Commission.

In his opening remarks, Siza Vieira said he expected progress to be made on this issue before June, which provides that "large companies operating in the European area and which are listed publish information on how much tax they pay and where they pay it".

At the press conference, internal market commissioner Thierry Breton said that the EU is "very close" to achieving this directive.

"Thanks to the efforts of the Portuguese presidency, we are confident that we will be able to move forward," noted Thierry Breton, highlighting the "important achievement today".

The document on the table today and which Lusa saw access states that "it is necessary to strengthen public scrutiny of corporate income taxes borne by multinational companies operating in the Union, as this is an essential element in furthering transparency and corporate responsibility".

"The establishment of common rules on corporate tax transparency will also serve the general economic interest by providing equivalent safeguards throughout the Union for the protection of investors, creditors and other third parties in general, thereby helping to restore confidence in the fairness of national tax systems," the proposal said.

The European Commission proposal made in 2016 creates a new directive that will require large multinational companies to publish country-by-country information on where they make their profits and where they pay taxes.

It is envisaged that such additional transparency rules would apply to active companies in the single market, have a permanent presence in the EU and have annual revenues of more than €750 million a year.

According to Brussels figures, corporate tax avoidance in Europe costs EU countries an estimated €50-70bn a year.

ANE/ADB.// ADB.

Lusa