Country By Country (CBC) Reporting – Notification Issued By UAE Ministry Of Finance (MOF)

Country By Country (CBC) Reporting – Notification Issued By UAE Ministry Of Finance (MOF) December 27, 2019

Country by Country (CbC) reporting is covered by the UAE’s cabinet resolution No. 32 of 2019. It is part of action 13 of the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) initiative led by the Organization for

Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Group of Twenty (G20) industrialized nation.

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Groups of companies meeting the following criteria are required to file the CbC Report:

MNE Groups, i.e. Groups which consist of two or more enterprises that are residents for tax purposes in different jurisdictions (an enterprise that is resident for tax purposes in one jurisdiction and has a

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permanent taxable establishment in another jurisdiction should be considered as a separate enterprise in the context of this definition); and

Have a total consolidated revenue equal to or more than AED 3.15 Billion for the financial year preceding the reporting year concerned.

As per BEPS Action 13, large Multinational Group of Entities (MNEs) are required to file a Country by

Country (CbC) Report showing a breakdown of the Multinational Group’s global revenue, profit before

tax, income tax accrued and some other indicators of economic activities for each jurisdiction in which   

the MNE operates. This information about the MNE Group should be reported under three tables:

Table I – This contains the quantitative information per tax jurisdiction such as third party and related party revenues, stated capital, taxes accrued and paid, employee count, etc.

Table II – This contains the qualitative information per constituent entity on the main business activities undertaken during the year.

Table III – This contains any additional information necessary to facilitate the understanding of Tables I and II (e.g., assumptions on exchange rates, source of data, etc.)

The UAE tax resident entity (the entity incorporated or created under the laws of UAE or has its place of effective management therein), which is an Ultimate Parent Entity of an MNE Group, is primarily

responsible for filing the CbC Report. However, a surrogate parent entity can be appointed by the MNE group to file the CbC report if:

A. One or more of the following circumstances applies:

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The Ultimate Parent Entity of an MNE Group is not required to file a CbC Report in its jurisdiction of tax residence; or

The jurisdiction in which the Ultimate Parent Entity of that MNE Group is resident for tax purposes does not have a qualifying competent authority agreement in effect with the UAE (by the due date for filing the CbC Report) that provides for the exchange of CbC Reports; or

There has been a systemic failure by the jurisdiction of tax residence of the Ultimate Parent Entity of

that MNE Group to exchange the CbC Reports in its possession, and the UAE Competent Authority (UAE Ministry of Finance, MoF) has notified the UAE tax resident constituent entity that such a failure has occurred;     

AND

B. The jurisdiction in which the Surrogate Parent Entity is resident for tax purposes: Requires the filing of CbC reports; or

Has a qualifying competent authority agreement in effect with the UAE (by the due date for filing the CbC Report) that provides for the exchange of CbC Reports; or Has not notified the MoF of an event of systemic failure; or

Has been notified of the identity of the Surrogate Parent Entity; or

A notification has been provided to the UAE Tax Department, setting out the name and jurisdiction of the tax residence of the Surrogate Parent Entity and its tax identification number.

The CbC Report makes it possible for authorities to check if economic value generated within the MNE group matches with the profit allocated and taxes paid at a global level. As per the BEPS Action 13

Report, the information contained in the CbC report will be used to assess high-level transfer pricing risk; assess other BEPS related risks; make economic and statistical analysis.

It is necessary for the entity preparing the CbC Report to use the same sources of data from year to year    

to maintain consistency. The CbC Report preparing entity can obtain data from the following sources: Consolidation reporting packages; or

Separate entity statutory financial statements; or Regulatory financial statements; or Internal management accounts.

The entity preparing the CbC Report should provide a brief description of the sources of data used and explain reasons for any changes in sources of information from year to year in the Additional Information section (Table III) of the CbC Report.

For the financial year starting from January 1st, 2019, the CbC report must be filed by December 31st,

2020. The Country by Country (CbC) reporting entities should maintain records for five years following

the date on which the CbC report is submitted to the Ministry of Finance. These records may be kept in a readable electronic format and accordance with the UAE laws and regulations relating to the retention of electronic records.