Large companies should disclose how much tax they pay in each country where they operate, the European Commission’s top regulatory official said, in the text of a speech to be delivered today.

Michel Barnier, the European commissioner in charge of drafting business regulation, said large banks will already be obliged to disclose their profits, taxes and subsidies in each member state and in the non-EU countries where they operate.

“We will expand these reporting obligations to large companies and groups,” he said in a speech to be delivered at a conference in Amsterdam.

The move follows a report by the US Senate earlier this week that Apple paid little or no tax on tens of billions of dollars in profits channelled through Irish subsidiaries and claims that it had negotiated a special corporate tax rate of less than 2 per cent.

The Government has hotly rejected claims of a special tax deal between this country and Apple with Minister for Finance Michael Noonan saying Ireland will not become the "whipping boy" for misunderstandings in the US Senate.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny was forced to defend Ireland’s corporate tax regime in Brussels yesterday, following a meeting of EU leaders at which countries pledged to fight tax evasion and aggressive tax planning.

Speaking after the summit, Mr Kenny said he disagreed with claims by Apple chief executive Tim Cook that the company had negotiated a special 2 per cent corporate tax rate with the Irish Government.

A change to EU law could come by amending an existing proposal on non-financial reporting, said one EU official.

That would make it possible to introduce the rules by 2015, after the conclusion of negotiations between member states and the European Parliament to finalise any new legislation.

Reuters