The U.S. IRS published the joint statement from the competent authorities of the U.S. and France on the implementation of the spontaneous exchange of country-by-country (CbC) reports for fiscal years beginning in 2019. Such joint statements were made for 2016, 2017, and 2018 as well.

The joint statement provides that CbC Reports for fiscal years of MNE Groups commencing on or after 1 January 2019 and before 1 January 2020 that are filed with the U.S. IRS will be spontaneously exchanged with competent authority of France pursuant to Article 27 (Exchange of Information) of the 1994 France-U.S. income and capital tax treaty, as amended. Where a CbC report of a U.S. MNE group is exchanged with France, then none of the constituent entities of the Group will have a local filing obligation in France.

The joint statement also notes that the U.S. and France are negotiating an intergovernmental agreement and a competent authority arrangement to allow for the automatic exchange of CbC Reports, but without waiting for the negotiation's conclusion, the competent authorities desire to spontaneously exchange reports.