On December 22, 2015, the Italian Parliament approved the 2016 Finance Act, which includes provisions introducing country-by-country (CbC) reporting for Italian parented multinational enterprises (MNEs) in line with Action 13 of the OECD’s Base Erosion and Profit Shifting project.
An Italian MNE that is required by law to prepare consolidated financial statements, that has consolidated annual revenues of EUR 750 million or more in the fiscal year prior to the reporting period, and that is not controlled other than by individuals must file a CbC report with the Italian Tax Authorities.
The reporting obligation is extended to subsidiaries resident in Italy for fiscal purposes, part of multinational companies that meet the conditions set forth in the law, if the ultimate parent company required to prepare consolidated financial statements is resident in a state that:
– has not introduced the obligation to file a CbC report;
– does not have an agreement in force with Italy for the exchange of information related to the CbC reporting; or
– fails to fulfil its obligation to exchange information relating to the CbC report.
The CbC report must be filed annually and must include specific financial data covering gross profit, taxes paid and accrued and other key indicators of effective economic activities by territory.
According to the OECD’s recommendations, the first CbC report should cover fiscal years beginning on or after January 1, 2016 and the submission deadline should be either the filing date of the relevant tax return, or within 12 months from the end of the reference year (for companies with calendar year reporting periods, the deadline would be December 31, 2017, for the report relevant to fiscal year 2016).
Failure to provide the report or providing an incorrect or incomplete report will trigger penalties ranging from EUR 10.000 to EUR 50.000.
Further details covering the effective date, specific content, filing requirements and methods and other procedural terms and conditions to be followed in relation to CbC report will be provided in a Decree to be issued by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance within 90 days of the effective date of the 2016 Finance Act.
