EU sharpens focus on tax of multinationals

EU countries will exchange information on the tax affairs of multinational companies under new rules backed by EU finance ministers aimed at stopping big companies avoiding paying their fair share into government coffers.

The rules, that should take effect later this year, are a response to growing concerns about corporate tax avoidance which costs the EU public €70bn a year, according to a European Parliament estimate.

“Today we reached a political agreement on co-operation between tax administrations, country- by-country reporting. This is part of our work on the anti-tax avoidance package,” said Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem who chaired the meeting of EU ministers in Brussels.