I am pleased to introduce you to the EBTF’s second study, dedicated exclusively to country-by-country reporting (CbCR) data. The 1st iteration of this study was issued in 2022 in response to the seemingly relentless focus on corporate income tax (CIT) in the media when assessing and commenting on a companies’ tax information. This trend sees little chance of abatement, and accordingly the EBTF thinks it is helpful to provide an objective data-based contribution to the debate, so commentators can consider for themselves what the real message behind a multinational companies’ (MNC) tax data is.
Further, we are also delighted to be able to showcase simultaneously the publication of a new study by the Amsterdam School of Communication Research of the University of Amsterdam. That study requested by the EBTF performs an independent study of the evolution of the public tax debate over the last 20 years, giving valuable context to how headline tax figures can be interpreted and presented to meet various agendas. A finding from that study highlights the value that country-by-country level tax reporting can bring by being seen and used more proactively as a valuable resource for developing a strategic tax narrative, facilitating, and enhancing communication with key stakeholders and allowing MNCs to attempt to assert a measure of control over the public messaging.
