Digitalisation and globalisation have had a profound impact on economies and the lives of people around the world, and this impact has only accelerated in the 21st century. These changes have brought with them challenges to the rules for taxing international business income, which have prevailed for more than a hundred years and created opportunities for base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS), requiring bold moves by policy makers to restore confidence in the system and ensure that profits are taxed where economic activities take place and value is created.

A key component of the transparency pillar of the OECD/G20 Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Project is the obligation for all large multinational enterprise groups (MNE Groups) with consolidated group revenue above an agreed threshold to file a Country-by-Country (CbC) report. The Transfer Pricing Documentation and Country-by-Country Reporting, Action 13 - 2015 Final Report provides a template for these MNE Groups to report annually, and for each tax jurisdiction in which they do business, the amount of revenue, profit before income tax and income tax paid and accrued, as well as the number of employees, stated capital, retained earnings and tangible assets. MNE Groups should also identify each entity within the group doing business in a particular jurisdiction and provide an indication of the business activities each entity is engaged in. As a result of BEPS Action 13, tax administrations around the world are receiving information on large foreign-headed MNE Groups which was not previously available, enabling them to better understand the structure of a group’s business and enhancing their risk assessment capacity.

The Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting requirements contained in the 2015 BEPS Action Report (OECD, 2015[1]) form one of the four BEPS minimum standards. Each of the four BEPS minimum standards is subject to peer review in order to ensure timely and accurate implementation and thus safeguard the level playing field. All members of the Inclusive Framework commit to implementing the BEPS Action 13 minimum standard and to participating in the peer review, on an equal footing.