Noonan in snub to EU profit plan

THE Republic’s Finance Minister Michael Noonan has dismissed plans by Europe to force big companies to publicly disclose information about their profits and taxes paid.

Effectively snubbing the proposals by the European Commission, the minister warned against any moves that would undermine the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) attempts to clamp down on global tax avoidance, known as the BEPS process.

Last April the commission unveiled a proposal introducing public reporting requirements for the largest companies operating in the EU.

But at a corporate tax event in Dublin Castle yesterday, Mr Noonan criticised the move.

“The commission’s proposal for public country by country reporting goes against the BEPS consensus that the value of these reports is in enabling tax authorities to see what is really happening and carry out more informed audits and assessments,” Mr Noonan said.

“Other non-EU countries have suggested that any public reporting requirement could result in them no longer sharing the country by country reports filed with their tax authorities.

“Ultimately, it is important that a consistent global approach is taken on this issue as with other issues.”

The commission wants to see multinationals operating in the EU with global revenues exceeding €750m (£641m) a year to publish key information on where they make their profits and where they pay their tax in the EU on a country by country basis.

Mr Noonan also argued there couldn’t be two international solutions to the one problem.