Proposal on public tax transparency (country-by-country reporting)

Key points:

• The EESC welcomes and endorses the Commission proposal. Tax transparency ensures recognition of the contribution made by multinational enterprises to public revenue in the place in which they operate.  A level playing field is guaranteed when all operators active in the single market have a fair tax burden on profits made in the European single market.
• The EESC considers that the set of data to be provided must be that established by the BEPS standards which the EU and most Member States have already adopted. The EESC also recommends the data be disclosed in one of the internationally-used languages included among the official languages of the EU and in the form of an open system, enabling civil society and business to access and use the data easily. Member States should be required to establish a public register for country-by-country reporting.
• Finally, the EESC calls for the Commission to produce a more ambitious package - and either for the reduction of the EUR 750 million threshold or for a gradual decrease of it.