Global adoption trends
for the GRI Tax Standard
An analysis of the use of GRI 207: Tax 2019 by the
1,000 largest public companies worldwide

Global adoption trends for
the GRI Tax Standard

GRI 207: Tax 2019

EFFECTIVE DATE: 1 JANUARY 2021

TOPIC STANDARD

207

An analysis of the use of GRI 207: Tax 2019 by the 1,000
largest public companies worldwide

Contents
1. GRI 207: Tax 2019 global research3

1.1 Background and purpose of this research3

4. Methodology

26

1.2 Key findings

4

1.3 Recommendations

5

2. Adoption by companies

6

2.1 Introduction

6

5. GRI Academy

27

2.2 Overall view6

2.3 Regional view7

2.4 Sector view9

2.5 Country view

14

3. Adoption by stakeholders

18

Appendix28

3.1 Introduction

18

A. GRI 207: Tax 2019 content

28

3.2 (Semi) policy makers

18

B. Tax in other GRI reporting standards

30

3.3 Investors and the Principles for Responsible
Investment

C. Official GRI translations of GRI 207: Tax 201930

20

3.4 NGOs, Research, Benchmarking and others

21

D. Official GRI documentation related to
GRI 207: Tax 201930.

Acknowledgement
Lead authors
Page Allen and Miguel Perez Ludena, GRI
Research
Input and support
Dave Reubzaet and Eline Vermunt (Deloitte,
The Netherlands), Alper Ozdemir (GRI)

2

Design and layout
Scribble Design© Stichting Global Reporting Initiative 2024

1. GRI 207: Tax 2019 global
research
1.1 Background and purpose of thisresearch
In December 2019, The Global Reporting Initiative (‘GRI’) released the GRI 207:
Tax 2019 Standard, as part of its system of sustainability reporting standards. The
development of this Standard was conducted in accordance with GRI’s due process,in order to increase public and stakeholder confidence that the Standard is properly
responsive to the public interest.
Applicable for reports or materials published after 1 January 2021, GRI 207 is relatively new,compared to GRI’s other sustainability reporting Standards. The same goes for the topic oftax in sustainable development itself. Driven by the polycrisis of tax avoidance scandals, andrecognition of the crucial role of tax in sustainable and equitable societies, the ‘sustainabletax’ topic has gained a lot of traction in recent years.
Through this research, GRI is looking into the global adoption and citation of GRI 207:
Tax 2019 by the global 1,000 largest public companies and by stakeholders, including
policymakers, multilaterals, NGOs and others. The research provides high level insight in its
adoption and mentioning, which can be used by stakeholders for the further developmentof the topic of tax in sustainability (reporting) context. It is however not a study into the(qualitative) content of reporting or use of the Standard. That may be the objective of future
research.
This report covers key findings (section 1.2), recommendations (section 1.3), details on
adoption by companies (section 2) and examples of adoption by various stakeholders(section 3). This is followed by a description of the methodology used (section 4) andinformation on the GRI Academy (section 5). Detailed background information on GRI 207
has been included in the appendices.
As various stakeholders use different names for the GRI 207: Tax 2019 Standard, in thisreport this Standard is referred to in various ways, including ‘GRI 207 Tax Standard’, ‘GRI
207’, ‘GRI 207 Tax’, ‘GRI Tax’.

31.2 Key findings

.

4

1.

Reporting by 26% of the largest 1,000
public companies mentions the GRI 207 Tax
Standard.

2.

The mentioning of GRI 207 per disclosure(1,2,3,4) is relatively equal, at around 25%,
with a high of 28% for 207-1 (Approach to tax)
and a low of 22% for 207-4 (Public country-bycountry reporting).

3.

Europe is the leading region for companies
referencing GRI 207 in sustainability reports.

4.

Capital markets lead from a sector
perspective with 58% mentioning GRI 207,
well ahead of #2, industrial conglomerates at
44%.

5.

From a country perspective, Switzerland leads
with 52% of companies mentioning GRI 207,
well ahead of #2 Italy at 43%.

6.

The relevance and use of the GRI 207
Standard has been mentioned in key
European Union sustainability regulations andrelated documents, including the Corporate
Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), andthe EU Taxonomy Regulation.

7.

The use and mentioning of GRI 207 isdiverse and widespread under a variety of
stakeholders. This also reflects the multistakeholder character of the Standard and themulti stakeholder due process applied by GRI
to develop this Standard.

8.

Various research refers to the GRI 207 Tax
Standard as the global benchmark.

1.3 Recommendations
We have summarized below key GRI 207 tax recommendations that can be consideredwhen further developing sustainable tax approaches by reporting organizations and by otherstakeholders.

▶ For reporting organizations

1.

When using the GRI 207 Standard, forexample to comply with the European
CSRD and/or EU Taxonomy Regulation,
ensure your report meets all disclosure
requirements. Incomplete tax reporting can be(perceived as) greenwashing. If reporting on arequirement is not possible, you can indicate
the reasons for omission (see GRI 1, Section
3, requirement 6).

2.

Using GRI 207 will help to create a global
baseline, reduce the compliance burden andhelp stakeholders to analyse universal andcomparable tax information. If this is notpossible, and a ‘self-made’ or a ‘businessonly’ methodology is preferred, try to stayclose to this standard and explain clearly
the deviations, to make analysis as easy as
possible. Remember that a ‘self-made’ or a‘business-only’ reporting methodology often
does not acknowledge the view of multiple
stakeholders, which is an important condition
to rebuild trust in tax.

3.

Consider using the GRI 207 Tax Standard
in combination with other responsible tax
initiatives such as the B-Team Principles or
the Fair Tax Mark initiative. These can be usedcomplementarily.

4.

Integrate your tax approach in due diligenceprocesses. This is in line with the integrationof other sustainability topics (such as humanrights) and fits within the GRI Standards
and the incoming European due diligence
regulations.

5.

Consider asking for external assurance on
your public GRI 207 tax reporting to provide
comfort to your stakeholders. In the European
CSRD/ESRS context, this will be mandatory.

▶ For (semi) policy makers, responsible tax initiatives and others

6

5

When developing hard or soft tax (reporting)regulations, accreditation and/or guidance,
consider using GRI 207 as a basis for reporting
requirements. This will help to create a global
baseline, reduce the compliance burden andmake reported information comparable forstakeholders.

2. Adoption by companies
2.1 Introduction
The visualizations in this section 2 are derived from an analysis of the global largest 1,000
public companies and their mentioning of GRI 207. For this research, the most recently
published ESG document(s) from each company, as publicly available on the company
website in July and Augsust 2023 (the time period during which these documents were
downloaded for this study), were selected for analysis.
For a description of the applied methodology, reference is made to section 4.

2.2 Overall view
This section presents an overall view of the companies mentioning GRI 207 and its
respective disclosures.

Mention of GRI 207

0

Mentionof GRI 207

No mentionof GRI 207

26 %

74%

20

40

60

80

100

Reporting by 26% of the largest
1,000 public companies mentions
the GRI 207 Tax Standard.

Mention of GRI 207 per disclosure

207-1

28%
0

6

20

207-2

207-3

207-4

26 % 23% 22%
40

60

80

100

Mentions of GRI 207
per disclosure (1,2,3,4) isrelatively equal, at around25%, with a high of 28%
for 207-1 (Approach to tax)
and a low of 22% for 207-4(Public country-by-country
reporting).

2.3 Regional view
This section presents the regional view, demonstrating how mentions of GRI 207 and its
disclosures are divided across five regions.

Mentions of GRI 207 per region (%)

34%

EuropeThe percentage of companies ineach region, based on where their
headquarters are located, that havementioned GRI 207.

23%

19%

Asia

Americas10%5%AfricaOceania

Mentions of GRI 207 per disclosure per region (%)

The below visual illustrates the percentage of companies in each region, based on where
their headquarters are located, that have mentioned GRI 207 per disclosure. To provide amore detailed view, a breakdown of each disclosure is presented below. This allows a clear
view of how the designation per disclosure is distributed across the regions.

207-1

36

33

30

27

26

23

21 21

20

20

18

16 15

10 10 10EuropeAsia

Europe leads for the frequency ofcompanies referring to GRI 207
disclosures

7

AfricaAmericas

207-2

207-3

14 14

10

Oceania207-4

14

Mentions of GRI 207-1 Approach to tax per region (%)
36
26

Europe

Asia

20

20

AfricaAmericas14
Oceania

Mentions of GRI 207-2 Tax governance, control and risk
management per region (%)
33
23

EuropeAsia

18
Americas14
Oceania10
AfricaMentions of GRI 207-3 Stakeholders engagement andmanagement of concerns related to tax per region (%)
30
21EuropeAsia

16
Americas1010AfricaOceania

Mentions of GRI 207-4 Country-by-country reporting per
region (%)
27

Europe

8

21

Asia

15

14

Americas

Oceania10
Africa2.4 Sector view
This section presents a sector view, illustrating how the mention of GRI 207 and its
disclosures are distributed across various sectors.

Mentions of GRI 207 per sector (%)
The below visual illustrates the percentage of companies within each sector that havementioned GRI 207.

Capital Markets
Industrial Conglomerates
Household Products
Personal Products
Textiles, Apparel & Luxury Goods
Household Durables
Commercial Services & Supplies
Electronic Equipment, Instruments & Components
Automobiles
Banks
Electric Utilities
Biotechnology
IT Services
MarineOil, Gas & Consumable Fuels
Wireless Telecommunication Services
Air Freight & Logistics
Communications Equipment
Construction Materials
Independent Power and Renewable Electricity Producers
Beverages
Consumer Finance
Energy Equipment & Services
Chemicals
Metals & Mining
Insurance
Machinery
Gas Utilities
Pharmaceuticals
Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment
Trading Companies & Distributors
Auto Components
Interactive Media & Services
Paper & Forest Products
TobaccoFood & Staples RetailingElectrical Equipment
Multi-Utilities
Professional Services
Diversified Telecommunication Services
Technology Hardware, Storage & Peripherals
Airlines
Containers & Packaging
Health Care Equipment & Supplies
Health Care Providers & Services
Aerospace & Defense
Media
Road & RailSpecialty Retail
Food Products
Real Estate Management & Development
Construction & Engineering

9

5

9
8

11
11
11
11

Capital markets lead froma sector perspective with58% mentioning GRI 207,
well ahead of #2, industrial
conglomerates at 44%.

40
40
40
38
38
37
36
35
34
33
33
33
32
31
29
29
29
27
26
25
25
23
23
23
23
22
22
21
21
20
20
20
20
18
18
17
17
16
15
14
14
14
14

44

58

Mentions of GRI 207 per disclosure per sector (%)
207-1

207-2

Personal Products
Marine

207-3

207-4
Industrial Conglomerates
Capital Markets
Paper & Forest Products
Automobiles
IT Services
Commercial Services & Supplies
Electronic Equipment, Instruments &Components
Metals & Mining
Banks
Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels
Electric Utilities

The percentage of companies
within each sector thathave mentioned GRI 207
per disclosure.

Chemicals
Biotechnology

Professional Services
Beverages
Household Durables
Wireless Telecommunication Services
Airlines
Communications Equipment
Construction Materials
Pharmaceuticals
Independent Power and Renewable
Electricity Producers
0

10

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Continued
Mentions of GRI 207 per disclosure per sector (%)
207-1

207-2

Auto Components
Consumer Finance

207-3

207-4

Multi-Utilities
Insurance
Machinery
Gas UtilitiesMedia
Air Freight & Logistics

Health Care Providers & Services
Semiconductors & Semiconductor
Equipment
Trading Companies & Distributors
Diversified Financial Services
Household Products
Textiles, Apparel & Luxury Goods
TobaccoFood & Staples Retailing
Diversified Telecommunication Services
Technology Hardware, Storage &Peripherals
Containers & Packaging
Health Care Equipment & Supplies
Food ProductsElectrical Equipment
Aerospace & Defense
Road & RailReal Estate Management & Development
Specialty Retail
Construction & Engineering
Energy Equipment & Services
0

11

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Top 10 mentions of GRI 207-1 Approach to tax per sector (%)
207-1

Personal Products

60

Marine50

Industrial Conglomerates

48

Capital Markets

42

Paper & Forest Products

40

Automobiles

39

IT Services

38

Commercial Services & Supplies

38

Electronic Equipment, Instruments & Components

37

Metals & Mining

37

The top 10 sectors thathave mentioned a specificdisclosure of GRI 207,
represented in percentages.

Top 10 mentions of GRI 207-2 Tax governance, control and risk
management per sector (%)
207-2

12

Personal Products

60

Industrial Conglomerates

44

Capital Markets

42

Paper & Forest Products

40

Commercial Services & Supplies

38

Automobiles

36

Metals & Mining

35

Chemicals

34

Biotechnology

33

Electronic Equipment, Instruments & Components

33

Companies in the Personal
Products sector mention GRI
207-02 much more frequently
than those in other sectors.

Top 10 mentions of GRI 207-3 Stakeholder engagement andmanagement of concerns related to tax per sector (%)
207-3

Biotechnology

67

Industrial Conglomerates

44

Paper & Forest Products

40

Personal Products

40

Commercial Services & Supplies

38

Capital Markets

33

IT Services

33

Marine33

Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels

33

Professional Services

33

Two-thirds of companies
in the biotechnology sector
referred to GRI 207-3

Top 10 mentions of GRI 207-4 Country-by-country reporting per
sector (%)
207-4

Industrial Conglomerates

44

Paper & Forest Products

40

Personal Products

40

Commercial Services & Supplies
Biotechnology

33

IT Services

33

Metals & Mining

33

Chemicals

32

Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels

32

Electronic Equipment, Instruments & Components

13

38

30

There are fewer mentions of
GRI 207-04 across the sectors,
in comparison to the otherdisclosures.

2.5 Country view
This section provides a country-based view, illustrating the mention of GRI 207 and its
disclosures across countries. Countries with a minimum of 10 companies in the country
population have been included.

Mentions of GRI 207 per country (%)
The visual illustrates what percentage of companies from each country, based on thelocation of their headquarters, have mentioned GRI 207.

52

Switzerland
43

Italy
40

RussiaGermany

38

Spain

38
36

United Kingdom
29

South Korea
27

Japan
Republic of Ireland

25

Mexico25
24

Brazil19

TaiwanNetherlands

18

China

18

United States of America

18
17

India
15

FranceHong Kong

13

Canada13
10South Africa
Australia

14

5

From a country
perspective, Switzerland
leads with 52% ofcompanies mentioning
GRI 207, well ahead of#2 Italy at 43%.

Mentions of GRI 207 per disclosure per country (%)
207-1

207-2

207-3

207-4

Switzerland
RussiaItaly
Germany
Spain
United Kingdom
South Korea
MexicoJapan
Netherlands

The number of companies
in each country thathave mentioned eachdisclosure of GRI 207.

BrazilTaiwanIndia
South Africa
China
FranceUnited States of America
Hong Kong
CanadaRepublic of Ireland
Australia
0

15

10

20

30

40

50

60

Top 10 mentions of GRI 207-1 Approach to tax per country (%)
207-1

Switzerland

57

Russia53

Italy
Germany

38

Spain

38

United Kingdom

36South Korea

33

Mexico33

Japan
Netherlands

Switzerland and Russia
were the only countries
where a majority ofcompanies assessed
mentioned GRI 207 intheir reporting.

43

30
27

Top 10 mentions of GRI 207-2 Tax governance, control and risk
management per country (%)
207-2

Russia

53

Italy

50

Switzerland

48

Germany

38

Spain

38

United Kingdom

36

MexicoJapan

30

Brazil29

South Korea

16

33

24

Top 10 mentions of GRI 207-3 Stakeholders engagement andmanagement of concerns related to tax per country (%)
207-3

Russia53

Switzerland

48

Italy

43

Spain

38

United Kingdom

36

Mexico33

Germany

31

Brazil

29

Japan

29

India

22

Top 10 mentions of GRI 207-4 Country-by-country reporting per
country (%)
207-4

Italy

50

Russia40

Switzerland

38

Spain

38

Mexico33

United Kingdom

31

Germany
Japan

17

29
26

Brazil24

South Korea

24

In Italy, half of thecompanies mentioned
the GRI 207-4 countryby-country reporting
disclosure.

3. Adoption by stakeholders
3.1 Introduction
Various stakeholders, including policy makers, multilaterals, NGOs, business initiatives andresearchers have adopted and/or mentioned the GRI 207 Tax Standard. In this section we
have included a variety of examples. Links to source documentation or websites have been
included.

3.2 (Semi) policy makers# 3.2.1

Australian Government
Document name: Exposure draft (19/12/2023). Treasury Laws Amendment Bill 2024:
Multinational tax transparency – country by country reporting
Essence: In this exposure draft the Australian government proposes to amend its previously
proposed standards to more closely align with the GRI 207 tax standard: Disclosure GRI 207-1
which is about the Approach to tax, Disclosure GRI-4 which is about public country-by-country
reporting and the private OECD country-by-country reporting requirements.
Page: 4
Link: Exposure Draft - Treasury Laws Amendment Bill 2024: Multinational tax transparency –country by country reporting# 3.2.2

European Union – Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) / European
Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS)
Document name: Official ESRS text
Essence: For sustainability topics not covered by an ESRS, such as tax, the ESRS refer tothe use of the GRI reporting Standards, including then GRI 207 Tax. (See also the EFRAG –GRI joint statement of interoperatbility in #3.2.3). The ESRS stress the importance for using
international Standards to support comparability of entity information to the maximum extent
possible.
Page: Articles ESRS 1 (§114) and Appendix A: Application Requirements, Entity specificdisclosures, AR 4 (a)Link: https://www.efrag.org/Assets/Download?assetUrl=%2Fsites%2Fwebpublishing%2FSiteA
ssets%2FESRS%25201%2520Delegated-act-2023-5303-annex-1_en.pdf# 3.2.3

European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG)
Document name: EFRAG – GRI Joint statetement of interoperability
Essence: “…The ESRS allow entities to use the GRI Standards to report on additional
material topics covered in GRI Standards that are not covered by the ESRS, such as
tax. ESRS 1 (§114) and ESRS 2 (§15) allow the inclusion of disclosures from otherstandards, such as the GRI Standards, in the ESRS sustainability statements…”
Page: 1 (plus see official text of ESRS 1 and ESRS 2)
Link: https://efrag.org/news/public-444/EFRAG-GRI-Joint-statement-of-interoperability-18

# 3.2.4

European Union Platform on Sustainable Finance
Document name: Final Report on Minimum Safeguards
Essence: In the EU Taxonomy Regulation, the topic of tax is considered a Minimum
Safeguard that needs to be complied with. The report and Platform members describe that“…endorsement of standard GRI 207: Tax 2019 is recommended as an indicator of anundertaking’s more ambitious understanding of tax fairness.”
Page: 23, 49 and 50
Link: https://finance.ec.europa.eu/system/files/2022-10/221011-sustainable-finance-platformfinance-report-minimum-safeguards_en.pdf# 3.2.5

Eurodad (European Network on Debt and Development) - Global Alliance for Tax Justice
Document name: Proposal for a United Nations Convention on Tax
Essence: Part of the proposal is the requirement of public country by country reporting bylarge multinational corporations (article 7). In this regard, the reporting requirements draw
heavily on a voluntary standard developed by GRI (e.g. GRI 207).
Page: 21, and footnote 57 and 58
Link: https://assets.nationbuilder.com/eurodad/pages/2852/attachments/original/1654678410/
un-tax-convention-final.pdf?1654678410# 3.2.6

Central Bank of Egypt
Document name: Central Bank of Egypt’s Sustainable Finance Binding Regulations(NOVEMBER 2022)
Essence: “Central Bank of Egypt’s Board of Directors decided in its meeting held on October
26, 2022 that it will issue binding regulations on sustainable finance in light of the Central Bankof Egypt’s direction towards achieving the sustainable development goals…the Central Bank of
Egypt is committing the banking sector to the following:… 5. Banks are committed to prepare
the following periodic reports and provide them to the Central Bank of Egypt’s Sustainability
Department:… 5.3) Sustainability Report: This report is to be prepared on an annual basis,and should be approved by banks’ Board of Directors or its counterpart for branches of foreignbanks. It should also be prepared in accordance to the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)…”
Although GRI 207 is not mentioned separately, the mandatory requirement to prepare asustainability report in accordance with the GRI Standards, means that if tax is a material topic,
the GRI 207 Tax reporting Standard has to be applied.
Page: 1
Link: 688_Sustainable_Finance_Binding_Regulations_Egypt.pdf (sbfnetwork.org)

19

3.3 Investors and the Principles for
Responsible Investment# 3.3.1

Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI)
Document name: Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI)
How to consider tax in voting practices
Essence: In this report it is mentioned that “investors could signal in their policies clear criteriathat would trigger support for a shareholder resolution e.g., resolutions requesting disclosuresin line with the GRI Tax Standard 207 or asking the board to adopt a tax policy.“
Page: 8
Link: https://www.unpri.org/tax-fairness/how-to-consider-tax-in-voting-practices/10905.article# 3.3.2

Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI)
Document name: Advancing tax transparency. Outcomes from the PRI collaborative
engagement
Essence: In this report the GRI Tax standard is mentioned in step number 3 for working withcompanies when engaging on tax: “Consistent disclosure requests: Companies often struggle
to balance additional disclosure requests with current reporting practices, particularly given thediversity of reporting frameworks and varied expectations around transparency from different
stakeholders. Investors have a key role to play in supporting frameworks for disclosure that
harmonise expectations from multiple stakeholders. One example is the new GRI standard on
tax released in December 2019.”
Page: 20
Link: https://www.unpri.org/governance-issues/advancing-tax-transparency-outcomes-fromthe-pri-collaborative-engagement/5541.article# 3.3.3

International group of (institutional) investors
Document name: Shareholder resolution
Essence: Various (institutional) investors have included in their shareholder resolutions therequest to issue a tax transparency report prepared in consideration of the indicators andguidelines set forth in the GRI Tax Standard.
Page: N/A. Via below link you can find examples of Tax shareholder resolutions. In the
database filter ‘ESG sub-theme’ choose ‘Tax’.
Link: https://collaborate.unpri.org/shareholder-resolution# 3.3.4

Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM)
Document name: Tax and transparency Expectations of companies
Essence: In this document GRI 207 is mentioned as best practice principle and reporting
standard with regard to tax disclosures to provide the tax information relevant to investors.
“With the increasing use of taxes as policy instruments to drive sustainability, disclosuresrelating to those instruments will be increasingly valuable to investors and other stakeholders.”
Page: 4
Link: https://www.nbim.no/contentassets/29f69f7ae81449f9adc88a32aa3de8c8/tax-andtransparency.pdf

20# 3.3.5

Forum pour l’investment responsible (FIR)
Document name: How does the CAC40 respond to investors? Engagement report – Season 3
Essence: In its periodic responsible investment engagement report, the forum included aquestion on fiscal responsibility commitments of CAC40 companies and refers in this regard to
the use of the GRI 207 tax reporting standard.
Page: 4 and 14, Question #8
Link: HOW DOES THE CAC 40 RESPOND TO INVESTORS? (frenchsif.org)

3.4 NGOs, Research, Benchmarking andothers# 3.4.1

Sustainable Stock Exchange Initiative (UN Partnership Program of UNCTAD, UN Global
Compact, UNEP Finance Initiative, PRI)
Document name: ESG Disclosure Guidance Database
Essence: Various stock exchanges worldwide provide sustainability or ESG reporting
guidance to their listed companies. In this Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative database, 72
exchanges are included with ESG disclosure guidance. From these 72 Exhanges, 96% referin their guidance to the GRI Standards (and then indirectly also to the use of the GRI 207 Tax
reporting Standard).
Page: See link which refers to various stock exchanges with ESG guidance with GRI reference
Link: https://sseinitiative.org/esg-guidance-database/# 3.4.2

Fair Tax Mark
Document name: Fair Tax Global Multinational Business Standard
Essence: The Standard has been aligned with the emerging best practice of institutional
investors and asset managers (i.e. the UN PRI) and corporate sustainabillty reporting
frameworks (i.e., the GRI)
Page: 9Link: Global MNC standard criteria - print version (fairtaxmark.net)# 3.4.3

Fair Tax Mark
Document name: Seven magnificent reasons to pursue Fair Tax Mark accreditation
Essence: Section 2: for an ‘ESG’ strategy to be credible, it must now explicitly tackle ‘tax
conduct’. GRI 207 Tax is mentioned as one of the global emerging initiatives.
Section 4: In a low trust world, stakeholders value independent third-party verification’, it ismentioned that the Fair Tax Mark satisfies the key reporting recommendations of GRI 207.
Page: 4 and 6
Link: Seven-magnificent-reasons-to-pursue-Fair-Tax-Mark-accreditation.pdf (fairtaxmark.net)

21

# 3.4.4

Tax Justice Network
Document name: Beyond20 Strategic Framework
Essence: As part of Tax Justice Beyond20 Strategic Framework, the GRI 207 Tax reportingStandard is referred to in the section on country-by-country reporting.
Page: 18
Link: https://taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Tax-Justice-Network-beyond20Strategic-Framework-May-2023.pdf# 3.4.5

Tax Justice Network
Document name: Corporate Tax Haven Index methodology (indicator 10)
Essence: As part of the Corporate Tax Haven Index 2021, Haven Indicator 10: Country bycountry reporting, the GRI 207 Tax reporting Standard is referred to.
Page: 8 (Haven Indicator 10)
Link: HI-10.pdf (taxjustice.net)# 3.4.6

EU Tax Observatory
Document name: Benchmarking Country-by-Country Reports
Essence: The GRI 207 tax Standard is referenced and included in the public country-bycountry reporting research and datasets.
Page: Various
Link: EUTO_WP17_Benchmarking_CbCRs_May2023pdf (taxobservatory.eu)# 3.4.7

European Association for Investors in Non-Listed Real Estate Vehicles (INREV)
Document name: INREV Code of Tax Conduct
Essence: This Code from the European Association for Investors in Non-Listed Real Estate
Vehicles, comprises a set of tax-related best practices designed to be applied across the
lifecycle of a real estate investment vehicle. The GRI 207 Tax Standard is mentioned as one of
the guidance and standards to be taken into account when drafting a tax policy and reporting.
Page: 15, 18 and 20
Link: https://www.inrev.org/guidelines/module/code-of-tax-conduct#inrev-guidelines# 3.4.8

Financial Accountability & Corporate Transparency (FACT) Coalition
Document name: A Material Concern: The Investor Case for Public Country-by-Country Tax
Reporting
Essence: GRI 207 is referred to as the “gold standard” to be used for voluntary country-bycountry reporting on tax.
Page: 11
Link: https://thefactcoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/FACT-Report-Final-Final-_Reduced.pdf

22# 3.4.9

Faúndez-Ugalde, Antonio; Toledo-Zúñiga, Patricia; Castro-Rodríguez, Pedro
Document name: Tax Sustainability: Tax Transparency in Latin America and the Chilean Case
Essence: Page 3 and 4: “As of 2020, it is observed that Latin American countries capitalize
more than 30,000 million USD in the stock market, only 37.5% have at least one sustainability
report, that is, 286 out of 762 companies in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru. Of
these, 73.1% have sustainability reports based on the GRI normative”.
Page 5: “As it can be seen in Figure 2, out of 30 companies, 37% provide sustainability reports
under disclosure GRI; 40% present integrated annual memories under GRI disclosure, and
23% do not present any sustainability reports.” [2020 period].
Page 14: [2020 period]. “The results show that the compliance of disclosures GRI 207-4 has asignificantly different performance compared to disclosures GRI 207-1, 207-2, and 207-3. Thishigher level of compliance of disclosure GRI 207-4 is the result of the information provided
by the financial state which forces the companies, following the international accounting
regulations, to consolidate its results of abroad investments. On the contrary, in the caseof disclosures GRI 207-1, 207-2, and 207-3, the focus is on divulging, in a transversal way,
the tax strategy which is seen on a smaller scale. In addition, when comparing disclosures
GRI 207-1, 207-2 y 207-3, and GRI 207-3, significantly lower levels of compliance are foundcompared to GRI 207-1. However, the main impact is seen on the sub-standard “1.3. Reports
Commitment in Tax Compliance”, which demands to describe if the organization tries to comply
with the letter and spirit of the law. This situation implies a declaration of principles, different
from the amount of evidence required by disclosure GRI 207-3 in terms of the participation
with the groups of interest. However, in the case of GRI 207-3.1.1, a higher proportion ofcompliance is observed where companies participate in cooperative compliance agreementswith the Chilean tax authority (such as the Social Responsibility Program with SMEs).”
Page: 3, 4, 5 and 14
Link: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/4/2107# 3.4.10

Faúndez-Ugalde, Antonio
Document name: Sostenibilidad Tributaria
Essence (translated from Spanish): Page: [2020 period]. In the last paragraph he points
out: “Although there are other cooperation mechanisms between taxpayers and the tax
administration such as the Advance Pricing Agreement (APA) aimed at avoiding any transfer
pricing dispute, and the Pre-filing Agreement Program (PFA) designed for taxpayers to request
the consideration of an issue avoiding possible disputes and controversies in an inspection
process, in contrast, there is a need for policymakers in Latin American countries to introduce
at the regulatory level mechanisms for integrated cooperation of tax transparency between tax
administrations and regulated companies , in a context of tax sustainability [GRI].”
Page: Last paragraph
Link: https://taxlatam.com/noticias/sostenibilidad-tributaria/

23# 3.4.11

Faúndez-Ugalde, Antonio; Toledo-Zúñiga, Patricia; Toso-Milos, Angela
Document name: Reporte de Sostenibilidad Tributaria en empresas chilenasEssence (translated from Spanish): The conclusions indicate the following in relation to the2021 period: “The results for the 2021 period reveal that fifteen Chilean companies registeredin the IPSA have more than an 80% degree of compliance in the GRI 207-1 Dimension,that is, disclosing their tax strategies, representing an increase compared to the year 2020
that on average reached nine companies. However, challenges still remain pending in theother dimensions related to governance to comply with the reported fiscal strategy, greater
participation with interest groups and improve the delivery of information for investments
abroad. Finally, it is important to highlight that the Global Ranking (Table 6) reveals that the firstten places correspond to companies that have a good degree of compliance with sustainability
standards, being a positive trend that increased from 2020 to 2021.”
Page: Last paragraph (4. Conclusiones)
Link: https://taxlatam.com/noticias/reporte-de-sostenibilidad-tributaria-en-empresas-chilenas/# 3.4.12

Diario Financiero (26 de mayo de 2023)
Document name: El SII mira con atención: empresas del IPSA avanzan entransparentar su
estrategia de pago de impuestos
Essence (translated from Spanish): “In 2019, the GRI updated its criteria including the
topic of taxes in its index. In this way, companies must report matters such as their “taxmanagement” approach, and thematic content of country-by-country reports.
A study, prepared by academics Antonio Faúndez, Ángela Toso (both from the Pontificia
Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, PUCV) and Patricia Toledo (from the Universidad Australde Chile, UACh), analyzes the level of compliance with these transparency standards by the
30 companies listed in the Selective Stock Price Index (IPSA), the main stock market indicatorin the country.”“The main objective of this research project is to require information on tax matters fromlocal IPSA companies, who have assumed the commitment to communicate their impacts
on issues related to sustainability in tax matters. This input is closely watched by the Internal
Revenue Service (SII), which is preparing to sign an agreement with the Catholic University of
Valparaíso to provide sustainability indicators for large companies, within the framework of anissue that is defined as a priority for both. institutions.”
Page: N/A
Link: https://www.df.cl/economia-y-politica/df-tax/el-sii-mira-con-atencion-empresas-del-ipsaavanzan-en-transparentar-su# 3.4.13

Deloitte
Document name: 10th Global Tax Policy Survey
Essence: Based on this survey 24% of companies expect their group to align its external
communication in relation to its tax performance with the GRI 207 Tax Standard (with 46% ‘Nostandard’, 10% ‘WEF’, 20% ‘Other’)Page: 36 (full report)
Link: https://www.deloitte.com/global/en/services/tax/research/beps-global-survey.html

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# 3.4.14

KPMG
Document name: The state of tax transparency in the Nordics (2023)
A KPMG study and GRI 207 benchmark
Essence: GRI 207 is used as a benchmark to assess the tax disclosures of in scopecompanies. From the summary: ‘…While some companies have not started yet, we see theresults from this year’s benchmark as clearly indicating that tax transparency is the new norm,
and we expect the number of Nordic companies that publish tax reports to continue to growyear after year….´.
Note: see also the KPMG 2022 study for Nordics adoption information.
Page: Various
Link: https://assets.kpmg.com/content/dam/kpmg/dk/pdf/Acor/2023/the-state-of-taxtransparency-in-the-Nordics-a-kpmg-study-and-gri-207-benchmark.pdf# 3.4.15

KPMG
Document name: The path to tax transparency in the Benelux December 2022
A KPMG study and GRI 207 Benchmark
Essence: GRI 207 is used as a benchmark to assess the tax disclosures of in scopecompanies . The report mentions in its conclusion: “Finally, while we decided in this report tobenchmark companies’ tax disclosures against GRI 207, it might be argued that doing so did
not do justice to some of the valuable but not GRI-aligned disclosures published by a numberof the companies we assessed. However, we found that using this standard as a benchmark
allowed us to conduct an objective comparison – which is one of the objectives and valuesof standards, and why some large investors are specifically demanding that companies
report in line with GRI 207. Furthermore, with the new EU Directive on public CbCR, the EU
Directive’s limited scope compared to GRI 207 will become the minimum requirement for large
MNEs, while GRI 207’s wider scope might become what companies need to comply with todifferentiate themselves from those limiting their disclosures to legal compliance.”
Page: Various
Link: https://meijburg.nl/sites/default/files/2022-12/the-path-to-tax-transparency-in-thebenelux-vb_update_0.pdf# 3.4.16

PWC
Document name: Tax transparency and sustainability reporting in 2023 (Austria, Brazil,
Germany, Ireland, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom)
Essence: The study reveals that “The GRI 207: Tax 2019 standard and the S&P Global
Corporate Sustainability Assessment are the most widely used frameworks”.
Page: Various
Link: https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/services/tax/esg-tax/tax-transparency-and-sustainabilityreporting-in-2023.html# 3.4.17

Various GRI 207 Tax related research
Document name: Various research documents
Essence: Via the link below various research can be found that includes research of andreferencing to the (use of the) GRI 207 Tax reporting Standard.
Page: N/A
Link: GRI 207 tax - Google Scholar

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4. Methodology
GRI has developed and applied the following methodology for this research:● First a sample dataset of 19,290 large companies – by revenue – was analysed on theuse of the GRI Standards (Y/N);● From these companies using GRI (Y), the global largest 1,000 companies – by revenue –were evaluated on the use of GRI 207: Tax 2019 (Y/N);● The mention of GRI is considered an indication for reporting using GRI. This can range
from a full report accompanied by a GRI index to instances where GRI is only mentiond
as part of the materiality determination process;● Publicly available ESG documents (i.e. content indexes and/or reports) from thesecompanies were used for analysis;● The most recently published ESG document(s) from each company, as publicly available
on the company website in July and August 2023 (the time period during which these
documents were downloaded for this study), were selected for analysis;● The mention of GRI 207 reflects a positive answer to at least one of the following
questions:■ Is the Standard title GRI 207 mentioned?
■ Is disclosure 207-1 mentioned?
■ Is disclosure 207-2 mentioned?
■ Is disclosure 207-3 mentioned?
■ Is disclosure 207-4 mentioned?
● Refinitv provided data regarding total revenue per company.
● A 100% success rate regarding latest available ESG documents, and regarding thementioning of GRI 207, is not guaranteed.

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5. GRI Academy
GRI Academy – Online course on the GRI 207 Tax reporting
standard
On GRI’s dedicated learning platform, sustainability and other professionals can access thelatest online curriculum on reporting with the GRI Standards. Our online course ‘Masteryof Transparent Tax Reporting’ provides information and background on the GRI 207 Tax
Standard.

Course description
The GRI 207: Tax 2019 Standard is the first global public reporting Standard for tax
transparency. It enables organizations to better understand and communicate information
about their tax practices publicly. This Standard combines management approach
disclosures on tax strategy and public country-by-country reporting on business activities,
revenues, profit, and tax.
This course explains some tax-related concepts and clarifies why tax is a sustainability
issue. It discusses tax-related impacts and presents the stakeholder groups asking for taxrelated information. The course also explains the GRI 207: Tax 2019 disclosures and how to
use this Standard in the context of sustainability reporting based on the GRI Standard.

GRI Academy links
Information: 	https://www.globalreporting.org/reporting-support/gri-academy/othercourses/
Access:https://griacademy.globalreporting.org/learn/signin

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Appendix
A. GRI 207: Tax 2019 content
For a full description, background and per disclosure guidance of the GRI 207 Tax Standard
we refer to the Standard document itself, which can be downloaded on the GRI website(https://www.globalreporting.org/standards/standards-development/topic-standard-for-tax/).
For the purpose of this report we summarize in this paragraph the content of this Standard.

FULL NAMEGRI 207: Tax 2019

EFFECTIVE DATEThis Standard is effective for reports or other materials published on or after 1
January 2021
Disclosure 207-1 Approach to tax

REQUIREMENTS

The reporting organization shall report the following information:
a. A description of the approach to tax, including:i. 	whether the organization has a tax strategy and, if so, a link to this strategy
if publicly available;ii. 	the governance body or executive-level position within the organization thatformally reviews and approves the tax strategy, and the frequency of thisreview;iii. 	the approach to regulatory compliance;iv. 	how the approach to tax is linked to the business and sustainable
development strategies of the organization.
Disclosure 207-2 Tax governance, control, and risk management

REQUIREMENTS

The reporting organization shall report the following information:
a. A description of the tax governance and control framework, including:i. 	the governance body or executive-level position within the organizationaccountable for compliance with the tax strategy;ii. 	how the approach to tax is embedded within the organization;iii. 	the approach to tax risks, including how risks are identified, managed, andmonitored;
iv. how compliance with the tax governance and control framework isevaluated.
b.	A description of the mechanisms to raise concerns about the organization’s
business conduct and the organization’s integrity in relation to tax.
c.	A description of the assurance process for disclosures on tax including, if
applicable, a link or reference to the external assurance report(s) or assurance
statement(s).
Disclosure 207-3 Stakeholder engagement and management of concerns
related to tax

REQUIREMENTS28

The reporting organization shall report the following information:a.	A description of the approach to stakeholder engagement and management of
stakeholder concerns related to tax, including:i. 	the approach to engagement with tax authorities;ii.	the approach to public policy advocacy on tax;
iii. 	the processes for collecting and considering the views and concerns ofstakeholders, including external stakeholders.

FULL NAMEGRI 207: Tax 2019
Disclosure 207-4 Country-by-country reporting

REQUIREMENTS

The reporting organization shall report the following information:a.	All tax jurisdictions where the entities included in the organization’s audited
consolidated financial statements, or in the financial information filed on publicrecord, are resident for tax purposes.
b.	For each tax jurisdiction reported in Disclosure 207-4-a:i.	Names of the resident entities;ii. 	Primary activities of the organization;iii. 	Number of employees, and the basis of calculation of this number;iv. 	Revenues from third-party sales;v. 	Revenues from intra-group transactions with other tax jurisdictions;vi. Profit/loss before tax;
vii. 	Tangible assets other than cash and cash equivalents;
viii. 	Corporate income tax paid on a cash basis;ix. 	Corporate income tax accrued on profit/loss;
x. 	Reasons for the difference between corporate income tax accrued on profit/
loss and the tax due if the statutory tax rate is applied to profit/loss before tax.
c.	The time period covered by the information reported in Disclosure 207-4.
Compilation requirements (see the Standard for all details).

RECOMMENDATIONS

The reporting organization should report the following additional information for eachtax jurisdiction reported in Disclosure 207-4-a:2.3.1	Total employee remuneration;
2.3.2	Taxes withheld and paid on behalf of employees;
2.3.3	Taxes collected from customers on behalf of a tax authority;
2.3.4	Industry-related and other taxes or payments to governments;
2.3.5	Significant uncertain tax positions;
2.3.6	Balance of intra-company debt held by entities in the tax jurisdiction, andthe basis of calculation of the interest rate paid on the debt.

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B. Tax in other GRI reporting standards
The GRI 207 Tax Standard is not the only GRI Standard that includes the topic of tax. Below
we have summarized other GRI Standards (Topic and Sector) that are relevant for Tax.
Details can be found in the mentioned Standards, which can be downloaded on the GRI
website.
GRI STANDARD NAMEDISCLOSURE / TOPICDISCLOSURE

GRI 201: Economic Performance2016

201-1. a. ii.

a. (ii) Economic value distributed:…employee wages…payments togovernment by country…

GRI 201: Economic Performance2016

201-4. a. i. and ii and iii

a. (i) Tax relief and tax credits (ii)subsidies (iii) investment grants,
research and development grants,
and other relevant types of grant

GRI 11: Oil and Gas Sector 2021

Topic 11.14
Economic impacts

201-1 (see above)

Topic 11.21
Payments to governments

201-1 (see above)
207-1, -2, -3 and -4

Topic 12.8
Economic impacts

201-1 (see above)

Topic 11.21
Payments to governments

201-1 Payments to governments
207-1, -2, -3 and -4

GRI 12: Coal Sector 2022

C. Official GRI translations of GRI 207: Tax 2019The Standard is available in the following languages:● Arabic● Japanese● Bahasa Indonesian● Portuguese● English● Simplified Chinese● French● Spanish● German● Traditional Chinese● Italian
Link to the above translations: https://www.globalreporting.org/search/?query=gri+207

D. Official GRI documentation related to GRI 207: Tax 2019
The following official GRI documentation is available:● GRI 207: Tax 2019 Standard● GSSB basis for conclusions for GRI 207: Tax 2019
● GRI 207: Tax 2019 Factsheet● Comparison GRI 207: Tax 2019 OECD BEPS
Link to the above documents: https://www.globalreporting.org/search/?query=gri+207

This paper was developed with financial support from theSwedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida),
a strategic partner for GRI’s engagements and programs.

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