The Germany Federal Ministry of Finance on 11 July 2017 issued guidance on the Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting requirements in line with BEPS Action 13 and the EU Administrative Assistance Directive as amended. The guidance clarifies the provisions of the Act on the Implementation of the Amendments to the EU Mutual Liability Directive and other measures to prevent profit shifting. The obligations of multinational corporations to create and issue country specific reports were regulated in a newly introduced sec.138a of the German Tax Regulations.
Requirements: The guidance indicates that CbC reporting is effective for tax years starting after 31 December 2015. With respect to the reporting format and technical specifications, the guidance only makes a reference to the OECD XML schema and related User Guide.
In addition, the Ministry of Finance requires the three following tables to be completed:
- Overview of the distribution of income, taxes and operations by tax jurisdiction;
- List of all companies and establishments of the Group according to tax jurisdictions and their most important business activities; and
- Additional Information.
Language: The country report can be submitted in English. The information or explanations contained in Table 3 of the BMF letter must be submitted in English, in accordance with Article 2b of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/2378.
