Answer given by Lord Hill on behalf of the Commission

8.4.2016

In the context of its communication on Tax Transparency of March 2015, the Commission announced that it would undertake impact assessment work on whether multinational enterprises should be more transparent as regards their income tax. The launch of this work was confirmed on 17 June 2015 in the framework of the action plan on fair taxation of corporate income tax in the EU. Against this backdrop, over summer 2015, the Commission launched a public consultation on further tax transparency. In the communication of January 2016 on the Anti Tax Avoidance Package, the Commission confirmed that it is assessing options as part of the ongoing Impact Assessment and, following its completion, intends to present a legislative initiative in the spring of this year.

During the impact assessment work, the Commission consulted widely and involved a number of its expert groups. In addition, the Commission moderated in October 2015 a roundtable with an array of representative interested parties.

The Commission carried out a study in 2014 on specific quantitative and qualitative aspects of the country-by-country reporting regime for banks. The contract for this external study was granted to PWC in accordance with the applicable public procurement rules and subject to clear provisions and commitments concerning the absence of conflicts of interests. The study has been in the public domain since October 2014.

Apart from this existing study, no external study has been or is being commissioned by the Commission to gauge the impact of publicising transparency reports on corporate income tax.