On 22 June 2023, Ireland introduced the European Union (Disclosure of Income Tax Information by Certain Undertakings and Branches) Regulations 2023 (the "Regulations") which require the reporting of financial and tax information of certain multinational enterprises ("MNEs") and standalone entities. The Regulations transpose the EU Directive on public country-by-country ("CbC") reporting, Directive (EU) 2021/2101 which was discussed in previous Matheson publications.
Scope of the Regulations
The Regulations require the ultimate parent of MNEs and standalone entities governed by Irish law with consolidated revenues of €750,000,000 for the last two consecutive financial years to publish a report to disclose certain corporate tax information.
The Regulations are also applicable to large and medium sized subsidiaries of non-EU based ultimate parent entities where those entities are governed by Irish law and where the consolidated group exceeds the €750,000,000 threshold. In such a scenario, the Irish subsidiaries must prepare a report in respect of their parent undertaking.
The same reporting obligations also apply to Irish branches of non-EU undertakings but only in circumstances where the net turnover of the Irish branch exceeds €12,000,000 for the last two consecutive financial years.
The contents of the public CbC report
The CbC report must be published on the website of the entity within 12 months after the date of the financial year-end. Therefore, entities with a financial year-end of 31 December 2025 must publish their report on income tax by December 2026.
The report must include information related to activities of the entity and, where applicable, affiliated entities. The following information must be included in the CbC report:
- name of the standalone entity or the parent undertaking entity;
- financial year and currency in respect of which the report has been prepared;
- a list of all subsidiaries in the consolidated group which are based in the EU or in an EU blacklisted or greylisted jurisdiction;
- a brief description on the nature of the activities of the undertaking;
- details of net turnover, other operating income and income from any other investments;
- details as to the amount of profit or loss before income tax, the amount of income tax accrued and the amount of income tax paid on a cash basis;
- details as to the amount of undistributed profits from the current and prior financial years; and
- number of full-time employees or employees who are employed on an equivalent basis.
Where the subsidiary or the branch does not have all the required information available, it must request them from the parent undertaking. In the event that the parent undertaking does not provide the requested information, the subsidiary or branch must prepare the CbC report with the information, available to it and include a statement in the report that the requested information was not provided by the parent undertaking.
Statutory auditors are required to confirm and state whether an entity falls within the scope of the rules and whether the CbC report was published in accordance with the Regulations.
Conditions for deferral and exemptions
The Regulations provide a five-year exemption from the reporting obligations where the publication of the information would be seriously prejudicial to the commercial position of the entity or the ultimate parent undertaking. In such a scenario, the omitted information must be published in a report five years after the date of its initial omission. This exemption is not applicable to information in respect of jurisdictions included on the EU Blacklist or Greylist.
Responsibility for the publication of the CbC report
The management and supervisory body (including directors, partners and authorised persons) of the reporting entity is responsible for the preparation and publication of the report in accordance with the Regulations. A failure to comply with the Regulations can result in penalties of a €5,000 fine or a term of imprisonment of up to six months.