A cross-party group of MPs is claiming a victory for corporate tax transparency after the government accepted a legal amendment that could force multinationals to publicly declare where they do business and the tax they pay.



Drawn up by the Labour MP Caroline Flint and supported by more than 60 MPs, the amendment to the finance bill would give the Treasury power to seek more openness on tax from corporations with significant activities in the UK.

The amendment says tax information should include a “country-by-country report”, showing what revenues are earned in which nation.

It comes in the wake of the landmark ruling of the European commission to order Apple to pay back up to €13bn (£11bn) in taxes to Ireland.

The government accepted the amendment on Monday evening, said Flint, a member of the public accounts committee, which has criticised the tax affairs of companies including Google.

Flint said she was “delighted that the government and the Commons has accepted the principle of public country-by-country reporting”.

She said: “Today is a victory for fairer taxation. A victory for openness, and a clear message to those global corporations that shift profits to low tax havens, that we expect them to play by the same rules as every other business.”

Among the MPs to back the amendment was the shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, the current and former chairs of the public accounts committee, Meg Hillier and Margaret Hodge, and Conservative members of the committee. During her campaign to become leader of the Conservatives, Theresa May had promised to be tough on tax evasion and avoidance.

Other MPs supporting the amendment include members of the Scottish National party, the Ulster Unionist party, the Social Democratic and Labour party, Plaid Cymru and the Liberal Democrats.

Fantastic news Govt accepts my Am 145 to enable the introduction of public country-by-country reporting. Thanks everyone. #showmethemoney — Caroline Flint (@CarolineFlintMP) September 5, 2016

The amendment was first introduced by Flint in March under the Ten Minute Rule, a form of private member’s bill which allows individual MPs to propose their own legislation.

This was followed by a formal amendment while the finance bill was at the committee stage in the Commons which proposed that multinationals based in the UK or with a large presence there should make public information about the size of their profits, where they were made and what taxes they paid.

They already provide this information to tax authorities, but the idea of the amendment is that making this public could help put pressure on corporations to change their behaviour.

Flint said: “The UK government now has yet another tool to use in the campaign against profit shifting that undermines our country and many others, not least some of the poorest in the world.”