Shell reveals only its gas subsidiary paid Dutch corporate tax in 2018

THE HAGUE (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell revealed on Tuesday that in 2018 only its gas subsidiary NAM paid corporate tax in the Netherlands, where it is headquartered, following Dutch parliamentary demands that it attend a hearing on tax avoidance.

"By giving openness before the round table, hopefully room will be created for the conversation to be about the substance," Shell said, adding that it paid $10 billion in corporate tax globally in 2018 and had an effective tax rate of 33 percent.

Shell's NAM subsidiary paid 500 million euros (439 million pounds) in corporate tax, the Anglo-Dutch company said in a statement.

Shell said it pays relatively little of its overall tax in the country where it is registered, because it incurs costs elsewhere in the world that can be deducted from taxes.

Those costs are large "in comparison with operating profits in a small home country like the Netherlands," it said, adding that multinationals contribute to the Dutch economy in other ways, such as by creating jobs, companies and via "other taxes".

"Shell is given the same treatment as other Dutch companies with foreign activities in this regard," it said.

The parliamentary hearing, originally scheduled for April 18, was postponed and has now been set for May 29.

Shell had said the CEO of its operations in the Netherlands would attend on April 18. On Tuesday, it said Shell's vice president for taxation Alan McLean would be there on May 29.

(Reporting by Toby Sterling, editing by Louise Heavens and Alexander Smith)