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Base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) FAQ

General questions

What is the context surrounding CbC reporting?

CbC reporting (Country by Country reporting) is being introduced in the context of the Principality’s implementation of Action 13 of the OECD’s BEPS Action Plan.

The BEPS (Base erosion and profit shifting) initiative was developed by the OECD in a bid to counter the tax optimisation strategies devised by some companies, who take advantage of the lack of tax harmonisation at the international level to artificially transfer their profits to low or no tax countries.

Under BEPS, participating countries will have to share with other participating countries some information about multinational enterprise (MNE) groups operating within their countries in order to allow the tax authorities in participating countries to determine whether transactions between companies that are part of the group in question comply with market conditions.

For more information, see:

 

What is a country-by-country (CbC) report?

A CbC report:

  • Is produced by the ultimate parent entity (or a surrogate parent entity designated by the parent entity, subject to conditions) of MNE groups with consolidated annual revenue of more than EUR 750 million before tax
  • Contains the following information: revenue, pre-tax profit or loss, income tax paid, income tax accrued, share capital, retained earnings, staff and tangible assets excluding cash or cash equivalents for each of the jurisdictions in which the MNE group operates
  • Is drawn up for each country in which the group has constituent entities

 

Aims

CbC reporting aims:

  • To reduce the gaps and mismatches in tax rules between different countries which are used by MNEs, leading to BEPS
  • To restore the tax base in countries which generate the group’s business
  • To increase international fiscal transparency and improve the access of the respective tax authorities to information about the global distribution of profits, taxes paid and some indicators of the location of economic activity between tax jurisdictions in which MNE groups operate, with the goal of carrying out an overall assessment of transfer pricing risks and other base erosion and profit shifting risks including, where necessary, for economic and statistical analysis purposes

Impact

Which countries are involved?

The OECD has developed a multilateral instrument enabling CbC reports to be shared.

To date, more than 100 countries had committed to introducing CbC reporting.

 

When the regulations come into force?

Regulations on exchanging CbC reporting came into force with the publication of Sovereign Ordinances 6712 and 6713 of 14 December 2017  which promulgate the multilateral agreement between competent authorities relating to the exchange of CbC reports and set out the procedures for applying the regulations in the Principality.

Which year is the first to be reported?

The first countries to implement BEPS Action 13 – primarily all of the EU countries – exchanged CbC reports relating to the 2016 fiscal year.

In Monaco, the first declarations will need to be sent to the Department of Tax Services for the fiscal year beginning 1 January 2018.

 

What impact will this have on companies based in the Principality?

Which companies are affected? 

Any company that is part of an MNE group, defined as follows:

  • "MNE group": any group that includes two or more enterprises, the tax residence for which is in different jurisdictions, or includes an enterprise that is resident for tax purposes in one jurisdiction and is subject to tax with respect to the business carried out through a permanent establishment in another jurisdiction, and is not an excluded MNE group 
  • "Excluded MNE group": this is a group which, with respect to any fiscal year of the group, has total consolidated group revenue of less than EUR 750 million during the fiscal year immediately preceding the reporting fiscal year, as reflected in its consolidated financial statements for such preceding fiscal year

The group’s entities will be subdivided into:

  • The group’s reporting entity
  • Other constituent entities of the group

Are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) affected?

No, SMEs should not be impacted since CbC reporting only applies to groups with consolidated annual revenue during the preceding year of more than EUR 750 million.

Implementation of Monaco’s commitment

Who need to submit a CbC report in Monaco?

Any reporting entity which is resident in Monaco for tax purposes will have to send the Department of Tax Services a CbC report for the reporting year.

A reporting entity is:

  • Any ultimate parent entity of an MNE group resident in Monaco for tax purposes 
  • A Monegasque surrogate parent entity, which is a constituent entity of the group and duly mandated by the group where one of the following conditions is met:
    • The MNE group’s parent entity is not obliged to submit a CbC report in the jurisdiction where it is resident for tax purposes 
    • The jurisdiction in which the ultimate parent entity is resident has, for tax purposes, concluded an international agreement to which the Principality of Monaco is a party, but is not party to an eligible agreement between competent authorities in force in Monaco on the date set out in Article 6 for the submission of the CbC report for the reporting fiscal year 
    • The Department of Tax Services has notified the constituent entity resident in Monaco for tax purposes of a systemic failure in the tax jurisdiction of the ultimate parent entity

 

What is the deadline for the submission of CbC reports?

The country-by-country declaration is to be submitted:

  • For financial years beginning on or after 1 January 2018
  • Within 12 months after the last day of the reportable tax year

The first reports for 2018 were due to be filed during 2019, and on an annual basis thereafter.

 

What is the definition of a constituent entity?

A constituent entity is defined as follows:

  • (i) Any separate business unit of an MNE group that is included in the consolidated financial statements of the MNE group for financial reporting purposes, or would be so included if equity interests in this business unit of an MNE group were traded on a public securities exchange 
  • (ii) Any such business unit that is excluded from the MNE group’s consolidated financial statements solely on size or materiality grounds; and
  • Any permanent establishment of any separate business unit of the MNE group included in (i) or (ii) above, provided the business unit prepares a separate financial statement for this permanent establishment for regulatory, tax, financial reporting or internal management control purposes

 

What formalities must Constituent Entities comply with?

Where a constituent entity of an MNE group that is resident in Monaco for tax purposes is not the ultimate parent entity or surrogate parent entity, it must inform the Department of Tax Services of the identity and tax jurisdiction of the reporting entity.

This information must be provided to the Department of Tax Services before the last day of the MNE group’s reporting fiscal year.

Note that, in the presence of several constituent companies in Monaco, each of these entities must prepare this declaration.

For groups closing their accounts on 31/12, the deadline for submitting the initial report to be produced by the Monegasque constituent entity will be 31/12/2018.

See the procedure: How to make a country-by-country declaration or a reporting Entity declaration

 

Who receives country-by-country declarations?

Reports received by the Department of Tax Services will be sent to the tax authorities in countries where the constituent enterprises of a Monaco reporting entity are present, and with which Monaco has signed an agreement to share CbC reports.

 

Who send CbC reports to the Principality?

Monaco receives reports from reporting entities in countries that have signed the OECD Multilateral Agreement between competent authorities on the exchange of country-by-country tax returns, with which the Principality has active exchanges, and which have a constituent entity in Monaco at the time of reporting.

These reports will come from all relevant groups with a constituent entity operating in Monaco.

OECD guidelines on the implementation of CbC reporting

The aim of these guidelines is to enable consistent application of CbC reporting throughout the world.

For more information on implementation, please consult the OECD guides and recommendations via the following link .

The full set of instructions and the documentation relating to transfer pricing and country-by-country reporting are available on the OECD's official website.

Downloads

https://en.gouv.mc/Policy-Practice/Monaco-Worldwide/International-Tax-Compliance/Base-erosion-and-profit-shifting-BEPS-FAQ