Regulations concerning country-by-country reporting
Translated by PWYP Norway from the source document in Norwegian.
Adopted by the Ministry of Finance on 20 December 2013 pursuant to the authority granted by section 3-3c, seventh paragraph, of the Act of 17 July 1998 relating to annual accounts and section 5-5 a, fourth paragraph, of the Act of 29 June 2007 No. 75 relating to securities trading.
Section 1. Scope
These regulations shall apply to undertakings engaged in activities in the extractive industries or forestry in unplanted forests that are subject to a duty to keep accounts pursuant to either section 1-2(1) to (6) or (13) of the Accounting Act, and that, as at the balance sheet date, fulfil at least two of the following three conditions:
annual sales of more than NOK 320 million, a balance sheet total of more than NOK 160 million, an average number of employees throughout the accounting year of more than 250,
or are issuers with Norway as their home state pursuant to section 5-4, second to fourth paragraphs, of the Securities Trading Act.
The regulations shall also apply to undertakings that are issuers or subject to a duty to keep accounts and either alone or together with their subsidiaries fulfil the size criteria in the first paragraph, and that have one or more subsidiaries engaged in activities in the extractive industries or forestry in unplanted forests.
Section 2. Definitions
“Activities in the extractive industries” shall mean activities including exploration for, prospecting for, discovery, development and extraction of minerals, oil, natural gas deposits and other materials in business sectors listed in primary business class 05-08 in business division B in the EEA rules corresponding to Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 1893/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council; see section 2 of the Regulations concerning the implementation of EEA legislative acts relating to European statistics.
“Forestry in unplanted forests” shall mean activities in unplanted forests as listed in primary business class 2.2 in business division A in the EEA rules corresponding to Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 1893/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council; see section 2 of the Regulations concerning the implementation of EEA legislative acts relating to European statistics
“Authority” shall mean any national, regional or local authority. The term shall also include bodies and undertakings over which one or more authorities have decisive influence. Decisive influence shall be deemed to exist if the authority:
a) has influence over the undertaking as specified in section 1-3, second paragraph, second sentence, of the Accounting Act
b) is an associate of the undertaking. The definition of associate adopted pursuant to section 7-30b of the Accounting Act shall apply correspondingly insofar as it is relevant.
“Project” shall mean operational activities that are governed by a single contract, license, lease, concession or similar legal agreement, and that form the basis for payment obligations to an authority. If several such agreements are closely connected, they shall nevertheless be regarded as a single project.
“Payment” shall mean the following types of transfers, either in the form of money or in kind, for activities as mentioned in nos. 1 and 2:
a) production that is handed over to an authority, including financial instruments that confer rights to production or the value of production,
b) direct and indirect taxes charged on the income of the undertaking, production or profits, excluding direct and indirect taxes charged on consumption, such as a value added tax, income tax for individuals or sales tax,
c) royalties,
d) dividends,
e) signature, discovery and production bonuses,
f) license, lease and access fees, and other payments for licences and/or concessions,
g) payments for improved infrastructure, and
h) shares, interest in or other ownership rights that the authority receives in the undertaking or in the subsidiaries of the undertaking or in associates of the undertaking; see section 7-30b of the Accounting Act.
“Corresponding foreign regulations” shall mean the national legislation in an EEA state that implements Directive 2013/34/EU.
Section 3. Report
Undertakings shall prepare reports as mentioned in section 3-3d of the accounting act and section 5-5a of the Securities Trading Act, which shall at least contain the following information on payments:
a) the total payment to each authority during the course of the accounting year, distributed by country and distribute it bite type of payment as mentioned in section 2(5)(a) to (h),
b) payments relating to a project shall also be reported by project and by type of payment as mentioned in section 2(5)(a) to (h).
The information requirement in the first paragraph shall not apply to payments of less than NOK 800,000 that are made individually or in the form of several related payments in the same accounting year.
As regards the duty to provide information on payments, the report shall also contain information on the undertaking’s investments, sales revenue, production volume and purchases of goods and services, for each individual country in which the undertaking engages in activities in the extractive industries or forestry in unplanted forests. The report shall also contain information on the interest rate the undertaking charges to other undertakings in the same group that are resident in other jurisdictions than the undertaking.
Amounts paid by the undertaking in connection with obligations imposed at the unit level, may be reported at the unit level instead of at the project level.
In the case of payments in kind made to an authority, both the value and, when relevant, the amount shall be specified. An explanation shall be provided regarding how the value has been set.
Section 4. Group reporting
Undertakings as mentioned in section 1, second paragraph, shall prepare a group report containing a consolidated overview of the information required pursuant to section 3, first paragraph, and section 3, third paragraph, first sentence, in which the undertakings in the group that are engaged in activities in the extractive industries or forestry in unplanted forests are shown as a single unit.
Subsidiaries may be omitted from the consolidated overview pursuant to the second paragraph if:
a) serious long-term restrictions prevent the parent company from exercising its rights over the subsidiary to a substantial degree,
b) the information required to prepare the consolidated report in accordance with these regulations Be obtained within a reasonable period or without incurring unreasonably large costs, or
c) shares or ownership interest in the subsidiary owned temporarily and must be classified as current assets pursuant to section 5-1 of the Accounting Act,
and corresponding exceptions also apply to the group accounts.
The group report shall, irrespective of whether a duty exists to provide information on payments, contain information on where the subsidiary of the undertaking is resident, on the number of employees of each subsidiary and on the interest rate each individual subsidiaries charges to other undertakings in the same group that are resident in other jurisdictions than the subsidiary.
II
These regulations shall enter into force on 1 January 2014 with effect for the accounting year beginning 1 January 2014 and subsequently.