Tax Responsibility and Transparency Index triples in size thanks to partnership with European Business Tax Forum

In 2024, CSR Europe and the Fair Tax Foundation launched the Tax Responsibility and Transparency Index (TRTI), allowing multinational businesses to benchmark themselves against high-bar civil society frameworks, pending legislation and pioneering companies in five key areas of tax conduct.

From the outset, the European Business Tax Forum (EBTF) was a key stakeholder in the development of the TRTI, alongside civil society, academia and investors. EBTF is the leading body of European businesses dedicated to raising the standard of the public debate around the tax position, tax behaviour and tax contribution to society by large businesses. Member companies are headquartered in the European Union, the European Free Trade Association and the United Kingdom, and share a common belief in responsible tax practices and tax transparency.

EBTF and its members are always eager to learn from, and contribute to, cutting edge tax responsibility and transparency initiatives. Post TRTI launch, EBTF was keen to further test the benchmarking tool and help it to grow. To this end, EBTF agreed a partnership that saw many of its members undertake parallel benchmarking through 2025.

To date, 21 large multinationals, headquartered in 10 countries, have now undertaken TRTI benchmarking - with growth being exponentially boosted by the partnership with EBTF. Together, these multinationals have a combined income of €625bn, employ 1.75m people and contribute in excess of €30bn pa of corporate income tax. The participation of EBTF members has substantially contributed to the worth of the TR&T index as a unique tool for progressive business to benchmark themselves against the best of the best.

Moreover, EBTF used the collective exercise to invite external stakeholders from civil society and investors to share their thoughts on what their priorities were and what tax developments may be around the corner. The feedback from these stakeholders was well received. In turn, the stakeholders were complimentary for having the opportunity to engage on these important issues in such a serious and engaging manner.

Greg Yates , Senior Ratings Manager, Fair Tax Foundation noted: "We are deeply grateful to the EBTF and its members for helping us to grow and refine the Tax Responsibility and Transparency Index further still. Every single one of the EBTF members that undertook benchmarking provided valuable feedback that was both equally friendly and robust. TRTI assessors are now even better equipped to appreciate the many nuances and national variances that are part and parcel of tax transparency, especially when it comes to total tax contributions."

Martina Cappelli, Senior Project Manager, CSR Europe commented: "I'm delighted to say that EBTF have helped us to take the TRTI to the next level. The dialogues with stakeholders were particularly insightful, with intelligence flowing both ways. These exchanges reinforced the view that responsible tax is a material governance concern, not merely a compliance exercise. Moreover, the appetite for tax transparency is substantial, for corporate income tax and also other taxes."

Paul van Sloun, Board Member, EBTF shared: "We would like to thank both CSR Europe and the Fair Tax Foundation for our continued collaboration. The interactions have been extremely valuable, broadening our understanding of best-in-class practices in responsible tax and tax transparency. We also extend our appreciation to the participating stakeholders for their insightful contributions, which have provided us with a much clearer understanding of expectations going forward. Furthermore, we would highly recommend that any company wishing to raise the bar on responsible tax and tax transparency participate in the TR&T assessment."