Corporate Investments and Pillar Two
May 6, 2025
The Pillar Two GloBE treatment of corporate investments will depend to a large extent on the nature of the activities, the accounting treatment and the ownership interest.
Intragroup financing arrangements are subject to special rules under Article 3.2.7 of the OECD Model Rules.
This is a common area of tax planning for MNE’s and without specific provisions, they could adjust the effective tax rate (ETR) of jurisdictions by structuring financing operations.
For instance, they could reduce Pillar Two GloBE income in jurisdictions that were just below the minimum rate (therefore increasing the ETR and potentially resulting in the jurisdictional ETR being over 15%) whilst increasing Pillar Two GloBE income in jurisdictions that had significant ETR capacity (ie where the jurisdictional ETR is significantly above 15% anyway).
A typical arrangement that would be targeted by this is a hybrid financing arrangement such as:
MNE Co 1 is resident in a low-tax jurisdiction. It borrows money from MNE Co 2 by way of a debt instrument 2. MNE Co 2 is a member of the same MNE group and is resident in a high tax jurisdiction.
The debt instrument is treated as equity for tax purposes and debt for financial accounting purposes in both jurisdictions.
As such, interest payments by MNE Co 1 would reduce Pillar Two GloBE income (and therefore increase the Pillar Two GloBE ETR) without any reduction in the domestic tax liability (as dividends are generally not tax-deductible).
By contrast, the interest receipt would increase Pillar Two GloBE income in MNE Co 2 (reducing its Pillar Two GloBE ETR) without a corresponding increase in its domestic taxable income.
Therefore, as an anti-avoidance measure, the Pillar Two GloBE income or loss of a low-taxed entity does not include any expenses of an intra-group financing arrangement that can be expected to increase the expenses of a low-taxed entity without a corresponding increase in the taxable income of a high taxed entity.
A low-taxed entity is generally an entity in a jurisdiction where the Pillar Two GloBE ETR is less than 15%.
There is no increase in the taxable income of a high-taxed entity if the income qualifies for an exclusion or deduction ie just because the high-taxed entity is allocated the income for local tax purposes does not mean this requirement is met, if it qualified for deduction or credits that offset it.
This could be the case if, for example, it has brought forward interest expenses sufficient to offset interest received from the low-taxed entity.
Whether there is an intragroup financing arrangement in place is an objective test and is based on whether there is an arrangement between two or more members of an MNE group which results in a high taxed entity directly or indirectly providing credit or making an investment in a low taxed entity.
In addition, again using an objective test, the arrangement must be reasonably expected to reduce the Pillar Two GloBE income of a low taxed entity without increasing the taxable income of a high taxed entity over the duration of the agreement.
Profits from international shipping (eg profits derived from the transport of cargo or passengers by ships) as well as certain ancillary income are generally exempt for Pillar Two GloBE income purposes under Article 3.3 of the OECD Model Rules.
As this would have been included in the profits in the financial accounts, an adjustment to the Pillar Two GloBE income is required.
The Pillar Two GloBE treatment of corporate investments will depend to a large extent on the nature of the activities, the accounting treatment and the ownership interest.
On April 30, 2025, the Swiss Federal Council issued a proposal to amend the Minimum Tax Ordinance to provide for the OECD GIR provisions, as well as some other small amendments.
On March 31, 2025, Japan enacted Cabinet Order No. 121 of 2025 and Ministry of Finance Ordinance No. 19 of 2025 to provide further details on the application of Japan’s QDMTT from April 1, 2026.
In April 2025, the Hong Kong Government proposed a number of Committee Stage Amendments to the Inland Revenue (Amendment) (Minimum Tax for Multinational Enterprise Groups) Bill 2024. This includes amendments for the January 2025 and June 2024 OECD Administrative Guidance.
South Korea’s amendment to the Enforcement Decree No. 35348 of February 28, 2025 and the Decree of the Ministry of Economy and Finance No. 1114 of March 21, 2025 provide for further aspects of the June 2024 OECD Administrative Guidance as well as additional top-up tax forms.
Updates to our ‘OECD Administrative Guidance: Domestic Implementation Matrix’ to reflect the latest April 2025 Pillar 2 updates for the UAE and Poland.
On April 7, 2025, the Polish Ministry of Finance released details for a draft bill to amend the Minimum Tax Act. The amendments are primarily to implement the June 2024 and January 2025 OECD Administrative Guidance.
On April 16, 2025, the Ministry of Finance issued Ministerial Decision No. (88) of 2025 to provide for the application of the OECD Administrative Guidance from January 1, 2025.
The UTPR exclusion for MNEs in their initial phase of international activity does not need to be included in a QDMTT, however, it can be included. In this article we look at the different jurisdictional approaches.
This website is not affiliated with or related to the OECD. We provide independent insights and analysis on the OECD Two-Pillar Solution
© 2025 OECDPillars
All Rights Reserved