CbCR EU 2024 Format: What Multinational Companies Over €750M Must Do

Key data

Large multinational companies operating in the European Union have a clear obligation: to publish their country-by-country tax information reports using standardized electronic formats. Now, the European Commission has published a correction to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2952, which is the standard that defines exactly how these reports must be presented.

This correction, identified as CELEX:32024R2952R(02) and published on May 5, 2026, does not change the substantive obligations of tax reporting. What it does is adjust technical or formal errors detected in the original text published on December 2, 2024. But for compliance teams, this has a direct consequence: the electronic format they use must be the corrected one, not the original.

What does this regulation establish?

Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2952 develops Directive 2013/34/EU regarding public country-by-country reporting (known as public CbCR, from the English acronym: Country-by-Country Reporting). This directive requires large multinational companies to publish information about the corporate taxes they pay in each country where they operate.

The original regulation established two key elements:

• A common model (standardized template) for structuring tax information by country.
• Specific electronic formats in which that information must be presented and published.

The correction published now adjusts technical or formal errors detected in that original text. Although the substantive content of the obligations does not vary, the corrected electronic formats are the ones with official validity. Using the previous format without corrections could constitute a formal breach of compliance.

Economic and operational impact

The direct impact of this correction is not economic in terms of new rates or tax burdens. The impact is operational and compliance-related: tax and compliance teams must verify that the electronic formats they use for CbCR correspond to the corrected version, not the original text with errors.

The economic risk appears if no action is taken: non-compliance with reporting obligations can result in sanctions. European regulations do not set a single sanction amount, but rather each Member State applies its own sanctions regime. This means that a multinational operating in several EU countries may be exposed to sanctions in each of them if it does not correctly comply with the required format.

From an operational perspective, the affected departments must:

• Update templates and systems for generating CbCR reports with the corrected electronic format.
• Review whether reports already submitted or in preparation used the original format with errors.
• Coordinate with legal teams in each country where the group operates to understand the applicable local sanctions regime.

Who does it affect?

This regulation directly affects:

• Large multinational groups with consolidated revenues exceeding €750 million operating in the European Union.
• Compliance departments of those groups, responsible for ensuring that reports are submitted in the correct format.
• Tax departments of large business groups, which manage corporate tax information by country.
• CFOs and financial directors of multinationals with presence in the EU, who must oversee compliance with tax transparency obligations.
• Tax advisors and compliance consultants who provide services to large business groups in European tax reporting matters.

It does not affect SMEs, self-employed individuals, or companies that do not exceed the €750 million consolidated revenue threshold.

Practical example

A multinational group headquartered in Spain, with consolidated revenues of €1.2 billion and subsidiaries in Germany, France, Poland, and the Netherlands, is obliged to publish its CbCR report using the common model and electronic formats of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2952.

Its compliance team had downloaded the electronic format from the original text published on December 2, 2024. Following the publication of this correction on May 5, 2026, that format may contain technical or formal errors that no longer have official validity.

If the group submits its report using the uncorrected format, it could incur formal non-compliance in each EU country where it operates. Since each Member State sets its own sanctions regime independently, the risk exposure multiplies by the number of affected jurisdictions. The immediate action is to download the corrected format from the official source and update the report generation systems before the next submission.

What should companies do now?

1. Verify the application threshold: Confirm whether the group exceeds €750 million in consolidated revenues. If so, the CbCR reporting obligation applies and this correction is relevant.
2. Download the corrected electronic format: Access the official source (EUR-Lex, reference CELEX:32024R2952R(02)) and obtain the common model and electronic formats in their corrected version, replacing any previous version downloaded from the original text of December 2, 2024.
3. Update report generation systems: Transfer the corrected format to internal tools or systems that generate CbCR reports, ensuring that the next submission uses the valid version.
4. Review reports in preparation: If CbCR reports are in progress, verify that templates based on the original text with errors are not being used.
5. Consult the sanctions regime of each Member State: Since each EU country sets sanctions for non-compliance independently, local legal teams must confirm what consequences the use of an incorrect format has in each jurisdiction where the group operates.
6. Confirm the entry into force date: The application date is not specified in the available data. Consult the official source to know the exact timeline and plan adaptation with sufficient margin.