MoF organises two workshops on 'Organising MNEs' reports'

The Ministry of Finance (MoF) organised two virtual workshops titled ‘The Frameworks of implementing legislation governing Multinational Groups of Entities (MNEs) reports’, from 2-3 November 2020. The workshops sought to identify the main points around implementing the UAE’s Cabinet Resolution no. 44 of 2020, which covers the legislation governing MNEs reports, and clarifies the private sector's responsibilities in this area. That, in addition to providing guidance on the functions of the Country by Country Reporting (CbCR) notification system.

H.E. Younis Haji Al Khoori, Undersecretary of MoF, inaugurated both workshops, where more than 230 participants from multinationals in the private sector, and employees from the International Financial Relations and Organisations Department at MoF attended.

H.E. Al Khoori stressed that the UAE, as one of the signatories of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)’s comprehensive framework for international tax cooperation, is committed to implementing the standards in accordance with the OECD's Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Project. CbC Reporting is core in BEPS’s Action 13, which aims to prevent tax planning – which exploits gaps in tax rules to artificially transfer profits to low or tax-free locations where there is low economic activity, or even none.

H.E. Al Khoori said: “MNEs reports bridge the gap between the information available to taxpayers and the tax authorities. These reports also provide tax authorities with an overview of the group’s economic activities and global financial results. According to Action 13 of BEPS, big MNEs groups are required to file a CbC Report that should provide a breakdown of the Multinational Group's global revenue, profit before tax, accrued income tax and certain other indicators of economic activities for each jurisdiction in which the MNE group operates.”

The workshops reviewed the latest developments related to the UAE’s requirements regarding CbCR; the CbCR notification system; the most important updates approved by the OECD on the CbCR; and introducing the most important guidelines to be followed when preparing CbCR.

In the UAE, CbCR were submitted in 2019, and the report was applied to UAE-based MNEs that have more than AED 3.15 billion of global revenues. The legislation was amended in 2020 based on OECD’s recommendations, and compliance is only required for UAE-based groups.

-Ends-

For more information, please contact: 
Mary Khamasmieh
Weber Shandwick
E: mkhamasmieh@webershandwick.com

Rawad Khattar
Weber Shandwick
E: RKhattar@webershandwick.com  

Sara Abuhassira
Weber Shandwick
E: SAbuhassira@webershandwick.com  

© Press Release 2020