European Plan to Reveal Tax Data Spooks Large Companies

A European Commission plan to publicly reveal tax and financial data of large companies raised concerns among many European Union finance ministers who on Saturday advised caution after the Panama Paper leaks.

Companies have warned of reputation risks, as some data may be misinterpreted if made publicly available. Non-EU firms could also acquire valuable information on their EU competitors, damaging their competitiveness, trade associations said.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble questioned the effectiveness of the Commission's plan at the end of a two-day finance ministers meeting in Amsterdam and indicated German federal states opposed public disclosure of companies' tax data.

The EU draft rules would require firms with an annual turnover above 750 million euros to publicly disclose their tax data in all EU countries where they operate.

With a last-minute tweak, the Commission extended this new disclosure requirement to corporations' activities in so-called tax havens, jurisdictions that facilitate companies and individuals to hide their taxable income.

Anti-corruption campaigners have urged the EU do to more than what proposed so far, extending public disclosures to all countries and to more companies.