Permitted Reporting Exemptions Under CSRD

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Frameworks and Standards
May 7, 2025

CSRD Permitted Reporting Exemptions

Last Updated: May 2025

The EU’s 2025 Omnibus Simplification Package introduced significant updates to the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), reducing compliance burdens and redefining who must report.

Key changes include:

  • 📉 80% fewer companies in scope (threshold raised to 1,000+ employees)
  • 📅 Reporting deferred for many until FY2028
  • 🛡️ Voluntary SME standard (VSME) to limit trickle-down disclosure demands
  • 🔄 Taxonomy reporting now optional for companies with <€450M turnover
  • 🗂️ Sector-specific standards removed
  • 🔍 Only limited assurance required—no upgrade to reasonable

🧾 Updated Exemptions Breakdown

1. Scope Reduction
Only companies with more than 1,000 employees and either €50M+ turnover or €25M+ in assets are now required to report.

2. Reporting Deferral (Wave 2 & 3)
Newly in-scope companies and listed SMEs begin reporting in FY2028.

3. VSME Voluntary Standard
SMEs outside CSRD scope can adopt a simplified voluntary standard that shields them from excessive data requests from CSRD-reporting companies.

4. Subsidiary Exemption
A subsidiary is exempt if its parent publishes a CSRD-compliant, consolidated report and references the exemption.

5. Confidentiality
Sensitive info may be withheld with justification—except for material environmental/social impacts.

6. Voluntary Taxonomy Reporting
Optional for companies with <€450M turnover. Partial disclosures are allowed to reflect transition efforts.

7. No Sector-Specific Standards
All companies use general ESRS. Sector-specific standards will no longer be developed.

8. Simplified Assurance
Only limited assurance applies. The proposal to allow reasonable assurance was removed.

9. First-Time Reporters
May use a phased implementation approach in the first year.

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Questions and answers on simplification omnibus I and II

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