On 20 December 2021, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment is seeking the views of stakeholders through a Consultation on the transposition of the new EU directive requiring public country-by-country (CbC) reporting of income tax information by certain large multinationals.

This requires MNEs whether they are headquartered in the EU or not, with a base, subsidiary or a branch in the EU, and revenue more than €750 million for each of the last two consecutive financial years, to disclose publicly in a specific report the income tax they pay, thereby encouraging transparency and public scrutiny through democratic debate. For the first time, European and non-European MNEs doing business through their subsidiaries and branches in the EU will be required to publish information on where profits are made, and taxes are paid across the EU and third countries.

The report must also include a brief description of the nature of their activities, the number of full-time employees, the revenues which are the sum of the net turnover, the amount of profit or loss before income tax, including the amount of accumulated earnings. This information must be presented using a common template and published within 12 months after the balance sheet date of the financial year for which the report is drawn up.

The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment is consulting on the use of two Member State policy options, being matters in respect of which Member States can or must make a choice. The deadline for submissions of public consultation is 18 February 2022.