EU as regards mandatory automatic exchange of information in the field of taxation - Main contents

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dossier	COM(2016)25 - Amendment of Directive 2011/16/EU as regards mandatory automatic exchange of information in the field of taxation.
document	COM(2016)25
date	May 25, 2016

ANNEX

‘ANNEX III

FILING RULES FOR GROUPS OF MULTINATIONAL ENTERPRISES

SECTION I

DEFINED TERMS

The term “Group” means a collection of enterprises related through ownership or control such that it is either required to prepare Consolidated Financial Statements for financial reporting purposes under applicable accounting principles or would be so required if equity interests in any of the enterprises were traded on a public securities exchange.

2.	The term “Enterprise” means any form of conducting business by any person referred to in points (b), (c) and (d) of Article 3, point 11.

The term “MNE Group” means any Group that includes two or more enterprises the tax residence for which is in different jurisdictions, or includes an enterprise that is resident for tax purposes in one jurisdiction and is subject to tax with respect to the business carried out through a permanent establishment in another jurisdiction, and is not an Excluded MNE Group.

The term “Excluded MNE Group” means, with respect to any Fiscal Year of the Group, a Group having total consolidated group revenue of less than EUR 750 000 000 or an amount in local currency approximately equivalent to EUR 750 000 000 as of January 2015 during the Fiscal Year immediately preceding the Reporting Fiscal Year as reflected in its Consolidated Financial Statements for such preceding Fiscal Year.

The term “Constituent Entity” means any of the following:

(a)	any separate business unit of an MNE Group that is included in the Consolidated Financial Statements of the MNE Group for financial reporting purposes, or would be so included if equity interests in such business unit of an MNE Group were traded on a public securities exchange;

(b)	any such business unit that is excluded from the MNE Group's Consolidated Financial Statements solely on size or materiality grounds;

(c)	any permanent establishment of any separate business unit of the MNE Group included in (a) or (b) provided the business unit prepares a separate financial statement for such permanent establishment for financial reporting, regulatory, tax reporting, or internal management control purposes.

The term “Reporting Entity” means the Constituent Entity that is required to file a country-by-country report conforming to the requirements in Article 8aa(3) in its jurisdiction of tax residence on behalf of the MNE Group. The Reporting Entity may be the Ultimate Parent Entity, the Surrogate Parent Entity, or any entity described in point 1 of Section II.

The term “Ultimate Parent Entity” means a Constituent Entity of an MNE Group that meets the following criteria:

(a)

it owns directly or indirectly a sufficient interest in one or more other Constituent Entities of such MNE Group such that it is required to prepare Consolidated Financial Statements under accounting principles generally applied in its jurisdiction of tax residence, or would be so required if its equity interests were traded on a public securities exchange in its jurisdiction of tax residence;

(b)	there is no other Constituent Entity of such MNE Group that owns directly or indirectly an interest described in point (a) in the first mentioned Constituent Entity.

The term “Surrogate Parent Entity” means one Constituent Entity of the MNE Group that has been appointed by such MNE Group, as a sole substitute for the Ultimate Parent Entity, to file the country-by-country report in that Constituent Entity's jurisdiction of tax residence, on behalf of such MNE Group, when one or more of the conditions set out in point (b) of the first paragraph of point 1 of Section II apply.

9.	The term “Fiscal Year” means an annual accounting period with respect to which the Ultimate Parent Entity of the MNE Group prepares its financial statements.

10.	The term “Reporting Fiscal Year” means that Fiscal Year the financial and operational results of which are reflected in the country-by-country report referred to in Article 8aa(3).

11.

The term “Qualifying Competent Authority Agreement” means an agreement that is between authorised representatives of an EU Member State and a non-Union jurisdiction that are parties to an International Agreement and that requires the automatic exchange of country-by-country reports between the party jurisdictions.

12.

The term “International Agreement” means the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters, any bilateral or multilateral tax convention, or any tax information exchange agreement to which the Member State is a party, and that by its terms provides legal authority for the exchange of tax information between jurisdictions, including automatic exchange of such information.

13.	The term “Consolidated Financial Statements” means the financial statements of an MNE Group in which the assets, liabilities, income, expenses and cash flows of the Ultimate Parent Entity and the Constituent Entities are presented as those of a single economic entity.

14.

The term “Systemic Failure” with respect to a jurisdiction means either that a jurisdiction has a Qualifying Competent Authority Agreement in effect with a Member State but has suspended automatic exchange (for reasons other than those that are in accordance with the terms of that Agreement), or that a jurisdiction otherwise persistently failed to automatically provide to a Member State country-by-country reports in its possession of MNE Groups that have Constituent Entities in that Member State.

SECTION II

GENERAL REPORTING REQUIREMENTS

A Constituent Entity resident in a Member State which is not the Ultimate Parent Entity of an MNE Group shall file a country-by-country report with respect to the Reporting Fiscal Year of an MNE Group of which it is a Constituent Entity, if the following criteria are satisfied:

(a)	the entity is resident for tax purposes in a Member State;

(b)

one of the following conditions applies:

(i)	the Ultimate Parent Entity of the MNE Group is not obligated to file a country-by-country report in its jurisdiction of tax residence;

(ii)

the jurisdiction in which the Ultimate Parent Entity is resident for tax purposes has a current International Agreement to which the Member State is a party but does not have a Qualifying Competent Authority Agreement in effect to which the Member State is a party by the time specified in Article 8aa(1) for filing the country-by-country report for the Reporting Fiscal Year;

(iii)

there has been a Systemic Failure of the jurisdiction of tax residence of the Ultimate Parent Entity that has been notified by the Member State to the Constituent Entity resident for tax purposes in the Member State.

Without prejudice to the obligation of the Ultimate Parent Entity referred to in Article 8aa(1) or its Surrogate Parent Entity to file the first country-by-country report for the Fiscal Year of the MNE Group commencing on or after 1 January 2016, Member States may decide that the obligation for Constituent Entities set out in point 1 of this Section shall apply for country-by-country reports with respect to the Reporting Fiscal Years commencing on or after 1 January 2017 onwards.

A Constituent Entity resident in a Member State as defined in the first paragraph of this point shall request its Ultimate Parent Entity to provide it with all information required to enable it to meet its obligations to file a country-by-country report, in accordance with Article 8aa(3). If despite that, that Constituent Entity has not obtained or acquired all the required information to report for the MNE Group, this Constituent Entity shall file a country-by-country report containing all information in its possession, obtained or acquired, and notify the Member State of its residence that the Ultimate Parent Entity has refused to make the necessary information available. This shall be without prejudice to the right of the Member State concerned to apply penalties provided for in its national legislation and this Member State shall inform all Member States of this refusal.

Where there are more than one Constituent Entities of the same MNE Group that are resident for tax purposes in the Union and one or more of the conditions set out in point (b) of the first paragraph apply, the MNE Group may designate one of such Constituent Entities to file the country-by-country report conforming to the requirements of Article 8aa(3) with respect to any Reporting Fiscal Year within the deadline specified in Article 8aa(1) and to notify the Member State that the filing is intended to satisfy the filing requirement of all the Constituent Entities of such MNE Group that are resident for tax purposes in the Union. That Member State shall, pursuant to Article 8aa(2), communicate the country-by-country report received to any other Member State in which, on the basis of the information in the country-by-country report, one or more Constituent Entities of the MNE Group of the Reporting Entity are either resident for tax purposes or are subject to tax with respect to the business carried out through a permanent establishment.

Where a Constituent Entity cannot obtain or acquire all the information required to file a country-by-country report, in line with Article 8aa(3), then such Constituent Entity shall not be eligible to be designated to be the Reporting Entity for the MNE Group in accordance with the fourth paragraph of this point. This rule shall be without prejudice to the obligation of the Constituent Entity to notify the Member State of its residence that the Ultimate Parent Entity has refused to make the necessary information available.

By derogation from point 1, when one or more of the conditions set out in point (b) of the first paragraph of point 1 apply, an entity described in point 1 shall not be required to file a country-by-country report with respect to any Reporting Fiscal Year if the MNE Group of which it is a Constituent Entity has made available a country-by-country report in accordance with Article 8aa(3) with respect to such Fiscal Year through a Surrogate Parent Entity that files that country-by-country report with the tax authority of its jurisdiction of tax residence on or before the date specified in Article 8aa(1) and that, in case the Surrogate Parent Entity is tax resident in a jurisdiction outside the Union, satisfies the following conditions:

(a)	the jurisdiction of tax residence of the Surrogate Parent Entity requires filing of country-by-country reports conforming to the requirements of Article 8aa(3);

(b)	the jurisdiction of tax residence of the Surrogate Parent Entity has a Qualifying Competent Authority Agreement in effect to which the Member State is a party by the time specified in Article 8aa(1) for filing the country-by-country report for the Reporting Fiscal Year;

(c)	the jurisdiction of tax residence of the Surrogate Parent Entity has not notified the Member State of a Systemic Failure;

(d)	the jurisdiction of tax residence of the Surrogate Parent Entity has been notified no later than the last day of the Reporting Fiscal Year of such MNE Group by the Constituent Entity resident for tax purposes in its jurisdiction that it is the Surrogate Parent Entity;

(e)	a notification has been provided to the Member State in accordance with point 4.

Member States shall request that any Constituent Entity of an MNE Group that is resident for tax purposes in that Member State notifies the Member State whether it is the Ultimate Parent Entity or the Surrogate Parent Entity or the Constituent Entity designated under point 1, no later than the last day of the Reporting Fiscal Year of such MNE Group. Member States may extend that deadline to the last day for filing of a tax return of that Constituent Entity for the preceding fiscal year.

Member States shall request that where a Constituent Entity of an MNE Group, that is resident for tax purposes in that Member State, is not the Ultimate Parent Entity nor the Surrogate Parent Entity nor the Constituent Entity designated under point 1, it shall notify the Member State of the identity and tax residence of the Reporting Entity, no later than the last day of the Reporting Fiscal Year of such MNE Group. Member States may extend that deadline to the last day for filing of a tax return of that Constituent Entity for the preceding fiscal year.

The country-by-country report shall specify the currency of the amounts referred to in that report.

SECTION III

COUNTRY-BY-COUNTRY REPORT

Α. Template for the country-by-country report

Table 1. Overview of allocation of income, taxes and business activities by tax jurisdiction

Name of the MNE Group: Fiscal Year concerned: Currency used:
Tax jurisdiction	Revenues	Profit (loss) before income tax	Income tax paid (on cash basis)	Income tax accrued — current year	Stated capital	Accumulated earnings	Number of employees	Tangible assets other than cash and cash equivalents
Unrelated party	Related party	Total

Table 2 List of all the Constituent Entities of the MNE Group included in each aggregation per tax jurisdiction

Name of the MNE Group:

Fiscal Year concerned:

Tax Jurisdiction

Constituent Entities Resident in the Tax Jurisdiction

Tax Jurisdiction of Organisation or Incorporation if Different from Tax Jurisdiction of Residence

Main Business Activity(ies)

Research and Development

Holding or Managing Intellectual Property

Purchasing or Procurement

Manufacturing or Production

Sales, Marketing or Distribution

Administrative, Management or Support Services

Provision of Services to Unrelated Parties

Internal Group Finance

Regulated Financial Services

Insurance

Holding Shares or Other Equity instruments

Dormant

Other (1)

Table 3: Additional information

Name of the MNE Group:

Fiscal Year concerned:

Please include any further brief information or explanation you consider necessary or that would facilitate the understanding of the compulsory information provided in the country-by-country report

B. General instructions for filling in the country-by-country report

1. Purpose

The template shall be used for reporting a multinational enterprise's (MNE) Group allocation of income, taxes and business activities on a tax jurisdiction-by-tax jurisdiction basis.

2. Treatment of branches and permanent establishments

The permanent establishment data shall be reported by reference to the tax jurisdiction in which it is situated and not by reference to the tax jurisdiction of residence of the business unit of which the permanent establishment is a part. Residence tax jurisdiction reporting for the business unit of which the permanent establishment is a part shall exclude financial data related to the permanent establishment.

3. Period covered by the annual template

The template shall cover the Fiscal Year of the reporting MNE. For Constituent Entities, at the discretion of the reporting MNE, the template shall reflect on a consistent basis either of the following information:

(a)	information for the Fiscal Year of the relevant Constituent Entities ending on the same date as the Fiscal Year of the reporting MNE, or ending within the 12 month period preceding such date;

(b)	information for all the relevant Constituent Entities reported for the Fiscal Year of the reporting MNE.

4. Source of data

The reporting MNE shall consistently use the same sources of data from year to year in completing the template. The reporting MNE may choose to use data from its consolidation reporting packages, from separate entity statutory financial statements, regulatory financial statements, or internal management accounts. It is not necessary to reconcile the revenue, profit and tax reporting in the template to the Consolidated Financial Statements. If statutory financial statements are used as the basis for reporting, all amounts shall be translated to the stated functional currency of the reporting MNE at the average exchange rate for the year stated in the “Additional information” section of the template. Adjustments need not be made, however, for differences in accounting principles applied from tax jurisdiction to tax jurisdiction.

The reporting MNE shall provide a brief description of the sources of data used in preparing the template in the “Additional information” section of the template. If a change is made in the source of data used from year to year, the reporting MNE shall explain the reasons for the change and its consequences in the “Additional information” section of the template.

C. Specific instructions for filling in the country-by-country report

1. Overview of allocation of income, taxes and business activities by tax jurisdiction (Table 1)

1.1. Tax jurisdiction

In the first column of the template, the reporting MNE shall list all of the tax jurisdictions in which Constituent Entities of the MNE Group are resident for tax purposes. A tax jurisdiction is defined as a State as well as a non-State jurisdiction which has fiscal autonomy. A separate line shall be included for all Constituent Entities in the MNE Group deemed by the reporting MNE not to be resident in any tax jurisdiction for tax purposes. Where a Constituent Entity is resident in more than one tax jurisdiction, the applicable tax treaty tie breaker shall be applied to determine the tax jurisdiction of residence. Where no applicable tax treaty exists, the Constituent Entity shall be reported in the tax jurisdiction of the Constituent Entity's place of effective management. The place of effective management shall be determined with internationally agreed standards.

1.2. Revenues

In the three columns of the template under the heading “Revenues”, the reporting MNE shall report the following information:

(a)	the sum of revenues of all the Constituent Entities of the MNE Group in the relevant tax jurisdiction generated from transactions with associated enterprises;

(b)	the sum of revenues of all the Constituent Entities of the MNE Group in the relevant tax jurisdiction generated from transactions with independent parties;

(c)	the total of the sums referred to in points (a) and (b).

Revenues shall include revenues from sales of inventory and properties, services, royalties, interest, premiums and any other amounts. Revenues shall exclude payments received from other Constituent Entities that are treated as dividends in the payer's tax jurisdiction.

1.3.   Profit (loss) before income tax

In the fifth column of the template, the reporting MNE shall report the sum of the profit (loss) before income tax for all the Constituent Entities resident for tax purposes in the relevant tax jurisdiction. The profit (loss) before income tax shall include all extraordinary income and expense items.

1.4.   Income tax paid (on cash basis)

In the sixth column of the template, the reporting MNE shall report the total amount of income tax actually paid during the relevant Fiscal Year by all the Constituent Entities resident for tax purposes in the relevant tax jurisdiction. Taxes paid shall include cash taxes paid by the Constituent Entity to the residence tax jurisdiction and to all other tax jurisdictions. Taxes paid shall include withholding taxes paid by other entities (associated enterprises and independent enterprises) with respect to payments to the Constituent Entity. Thus, if company A resident in tax jurisdiction A earns interest in tax jurisdiction B, the tax withheld in tax jurisdiction B shall be reported by company A.

1.5.   Income tax accrued (current year)

In the seventh column of the template, the reporting MNE shall report the sum of the accrued current tax expense recorded on taxable profits or losses of the year of reporting of all the Constituent Entities resident for tax purposes in the relevant tax jurisdiction. The current tax expense shall reflect only operations in the current year and shall not include deferred taxes or provisions for uncertain tax liabilities.

1.6.   Stated capital

In the eighth column of the template, the reporting MNE shall report the sum of the stated capital of all the Constituent Entities resident for tax purposes in the relevant tax jurisdiction. With regard to permanent establishments, the stated capital shall be reported by the legal entity of which it is a permanent establishment unless there is a defined capital requirement in the permanent establishment tax jurisdiction for regulatory purposes.

1.7.   Accumulated earnings

In the ninth column of the template, the reporting MNE shall report the sum of the total accumulated earnings of all the Constituent Entities resident for tax purposes in the relevant tax jurisdiction as of the end of the year. With regard to permanent establishments, accumulated earnings shall be reported by the legal entity of which it is a permanent establishment.

1.8.   Number of employees

In the tenth column of the template, the reporting MNE shall report the total number of employees on a full-time equivalent (FTE) basis of all the Constituent Entities resident for tax purposes in the relevant tax jurisdiction. The number of employees may be reported as of the year-end, on the basis of average employment levels for the year, or on any other basis consistently applied across tax jurisdictions and from year to year. For this purpose, independent contractors participating in the ordinary operating activities of the Constituent Entity may be reported as employees. Reasonable rounding or approximation of the number of employees is permissible, providing that such rounding or approximation does not materially distort the relative distribution of employees across the various tax jurisdictions. Consistent approaches shall be applied from year to year and across entities.

1.9.   Tangible assets other than cash and cash equivalents

In the eleventh column of the template, the reporting MNE shall report the sum of the net book values of tangible assets of all the Constituent Entities resident for tax purposes in the relevant tax jurisdiction. With regard to permanent establishments, assets shall be reported by reference to the tax jurisdiction in which the permanent establishment is situated. Tangible assets for this purpose do not include cash or cash equivalents, intangibles, or financial assets.

2. List of all the Constituent Entities of the MNE Group included in each aggregation per tax jurisdiction (Table 2)

2.1.   Constituent Entities resident in the tax jurisdiction

The reporting MNE shall list, on a tax jurisdiction-by-tax jurisdiction basis and by legal entity name, all the Constituent Entities of the MNE Group which are resident for tax purposes in the relevant tax jurisdiction. As stated in point 2 of the general instructions with regard to permanent establishments, however, the permanent establishment shall be listed by reference to the tax jurisdiction in which it is situated. The legal entity of which it is a permanent establishment shall be noted.

2.2.   Tax jurisdiction of organisation or incorporation if different from tax jurisdiction of residence

The reporting MNE shall report the name of the tax jurisdiction under whose laws the Constituent Entity of the MNE Group is organised or incorporated if it is different from the tax jurisdiction of residence.

2.3.   Main business activity(ies)

The reporting MNE shall determine the nature of the main business activity(ies) carried out by the Constituent Entity in the relevant tax jurisdiction, by ticking one or more of the appropriate boxes.’

(1) Please specify the nature of the activity of the Constituent Entity in the “Additional information”