OECD Peer Review Report: Global Push for Tax Transparency Gains Ground, But Loopholes Remain
SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
Institutions: Ministry of Finance | Central Board of Direct Taxes
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has released the 2025 Compilation of Peer Review Reports on Country-by-Country Reporting (CbCR), part of the G20/OECD Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Project. It shows that over 120 countries now require big multinational companies to disclose where they earn their revenues, pay taxes, and employ people. The idea is to make it harder for firms to shift profits to tax havens while paying little in countries where they actually do business. Most countries have also agreed to share this data automatically with each other, although gaps remain in implementation and safeguards.
Peer review = countries checking each otherβs homework on implementing a global tax standard. This report is a peer review, meaning it is not a new guideline but rather a compliance check on how well countries are meeting the global standard. It is a way for countries to hold each other accountable for implementing agreed tax transparency measures. It looks at four main areas:
Legal framework - does the country have the law in place?
Exchange of information - is the country exchanging CbCR data with partners as promised?
Confidentiality - are safeguards in place to protect sensitive company information?
Appropriate use - are tax authorities using the information for risk assessment, not for unrelated purposes?
The 2025 review shows that more than 120 countries have adopted CbCR laws and over 100 are exchanging reports. However, some still lack complete legal frameworks, adequate safeguards for sensitive data, or mechanisms to ensure that information is used effectively by tax authorities.
For India, this matters because profit shifting by global firms reduces domestic tax revenues and weakens fiscal space for development. India is already part of the OECD/G20 framework and has its own CbCR rules for large multinationals. But as loopholes remain globally, India must keep strengthening its laws and international cooperation to protect revenues, particularly as the digital economy grows.
Follow the full report here: OECD Country-by-Country Reporting Peer Review 2025