Caroline Flint, Labour MP for the Don Valley, who is a member of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is spearheading a cross-party initiative to table an amendment to the Finance Bill which would require public disclosure by multinationals.

Under the latest government proposals, CBCR details will only be reported to HMRC and will not be available for public dissemination.

Flint said: ‘We believe the tide of opinion is moving towards openness, after the Google tax affair and the release of the Panama Papers.  We want the government to champion this – in the interests of UK business, and fairer taxation.’

Supporters of the campaign said in a statement: ‘Caroline’s proposal has a real chance of changing the law.  This is about fair taxation. We cannot have one rule for UK businesses, that pay their fair share, and another for multinationals able to shift their profits around the globe.  This public country-by-country reporting is a simple way to tackle a huge problem of avoidance.’

The amendment follows Flint’s 10-minute rule bill on multinational transparency, backed by the PAC and over 50 MPs.

The campaign is supported by Tax Justice Network, Global Witness, business-led Fair Tax Mark, and key groups from the development lobby, including Oxfam, Christian Aid, Action Aid, Save the Children and CAFOD. The amendment has the full backing of Labour, the SNP and the Liberal Democrats, along with Plaid Cymru, the SDLP, the UUP, and the two Green Party and UKIP MPs.

The measure will be debated when the Finance Bill returns to the Commons on June 28 and June 29.

Part 10 of the bill specifically addresses tax avoidance, by both individuals and companies, and Clause 149 in that part introduces a new measure whereby qualifying companies will be required to publish a ‘tax strategy’ annually.

The cross-party alliance of MPs wants to insert an additional requirement in Clause 149, stating that qualifying multinational enterprises must include in this new public tax strategy their CBCR information.

Democrats call for CBCR access in US

In the US, former US Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, together with three other senators, has also launched a call for public access to CBCR data, which multinationals will be required to supply to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

In a letter to IRS commissioner John Koskinen and Treasury secretary Jacob Lew, the senators said: ‘Unfortunately, in recent years, a number of multinational corporations have found ways to pay little or no tax in the US, despite having large operations and a significant portion of their customers in this country. We believe that public CBCR would be beneficial for policymakers and the public as they consider tax reform or other changes to our nation’s tax policies.’

The senators said there is ‘little reason’ why a company should not publicly disclose the information as long as safeguards are implemented to avoid disclosure of sensitive business information.

They noted also that an EU proposal for public release of data on all multinationals is now under consideration.

The proposed US CBCR regulations follow the OECD’s base erosion profit shifting (BEPS) plan agreements, and will apply to about 1,800 US multinationals that meet a €750m (£595m) revenue threshold.