Article 10 of the OECD Model Rules defines an entity as either:
– a legal person (except an individual); or
– any arrangement that prepares separate financial accounts.
Note that the First Set of OECD Administrative Guidance also excludes government agencies (both central and local government) that carry out government functions.
The first limb above would generally catch foundations, whilst the second would catch trusts.
This means that trusts and foundations are squarely within the Pillar Two rules and could be a low-taxed entity, an intermediate entity/partially owned parent entity or even an ultimate parent entity (UPE).
Under Article 1.4.1 of the OECD Model Rules, a UPE for the Pillar Two rules is:
Whether a trust is a UPE is an important consideration as (1) in many cases the UPE is required to apply the income inclusion rule to account for top-up tax and (2) the definition of an MNE group hinges on the relationship between the group companies and the UPE.
For instance, take this scenario:
Determining if the trust was the UPE could result in all companies then potentially being within the scope of the Pillar Two rules (subject to any specific exclusions etc). Aside from the application of Pillar Two to the group, the trust could then be liable to account for top-up tax.
This in itself could create issues.
The definition of a group in the Pillar Two rules relies on accounting principles so that there is a group if there is a requirement to prepare consolidated financial statements.
Whilst a trust or foundation may not usually have to prepare consolidated financial statements under an accounting standard, the Pillar Two rules go further.
Article 10 of the OECD Model Rules states that if no consolidated financial statements are prepared a deeming provision applies so that the entity must prepare hypothetical consolidated financial statements as if it was required to prepare them in accordance with an Authorised Financial Accounting Standard that is either an Acceptable Financial Accounting Standard or another financial accounting standard.
As such, a trust or foundation would need to determine if it would be required to prepare accounting standards under an accounting standard.
This would again depend on accounting principles.
Under IFRS for instance, there is a requirement to consolidate if the trust or foundation possesses power over the parent entities, has exposure to variable returns from its involvement with them and has the ability to use its power over them to affect its returns.
On August 26, 2025, Australia issued a list of jurisdictions that have qualified status for the purposes of the income inclusion rule and domestic minimum tax (including the QDMTT Safe Harbour).
On August 27, 2025, the Australian Taxation Office issued a draft legislative instrument (the ‘Taxation Administration (Exemptions from Requirement to Lodge Australian IIR/UTPR tax return and Australian DMT tax return) Determination 2025’). This outlines situations when entities within the scope of the Pillar 2 GloBE rules do not need to file an Australian DMT Return or an IIR/UTPR Return.
On August 20, 2025, the Romanian government issued a draft law for consultation. The law proposes amendments to various aspects of the Minimum Tax Act, including for the filing deadline for the designated filing entity nomination, transferable tax credits and the excess negative tax carry forward election.
The Finance Act 2025, enacted on August 8, 2025, introduces a new Sub-Part AF to the Income Tax Act to include a domestic minimum top-up tax (intended to be a QDMTT) from July 1, 2025.
On January 15, 2025, the OECD issued Administrative Guidance that includes a list of jurisdictions that have transitional qualified status for the purposes of the income inclusion rule and domestic minimum tax (including the QDMTT Safe Harbour). This was subsequently updated on March 31, 2025 and August 18, 2025.
On August 6, 2025, Germany issued the draft bill to amend the Minimum Tax Act. This follows the two previous discussion drafts and now includes the January 2025 OECD Administrative Guidance and DAC9 amendments.
On March 20, 2025, the Swedish Ministry of Finance issued a proposal to amend the Global Minimum Tax Act. The final draft law was published by the government on August 14, 2025. The purpose of the draft law is to implement the provisions of the June 2024 OECD Administrative Guidance into domestic law.
On August 13, 2025, Canada issued draft legislative proposals to amend its Global Minimum Tax Act to provide for aspects of the June 2024 and January 2025 OECD Administrative Guidance.
Many jurisdictions will require GloBE registration for administrative purposes, however, the law issued to date has been inconsistent. We outline the GloBE registration obligations from the domestic legislation (enacted and draft) issued to date, with citations and links to relevant laws.
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