EU, Australia Public Tax Reporting Stirs Firms’ Privacy Fears

Companies fear that new requirements to publicly disclose more about their taxes will leave them exposed to competitors and vulnerable to attack by critics. Their advisers think they should cope with the new rules by telling the public still more.

Multinationals, including big US companies, are gearing up for reports mandated by the European Union and Australia that will publicly disclose some of their country-by-country tax payments. They’re nervous they’ll have to reveal sensitive business information that competitors could use against them, and that the newly disclosed numbers will be misinterpreted.

But some tax practitioners are counseling clients to see ...