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 October 5, 2025, Israel published a consultation on a draft law for a domestic minimum tax (intended to be a Qualified Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax or ‘QDMTT’) from January 1, 2026.
On October 3, 2025, Turkey published the Draft Communique on the Minimum Tax Law, and the Draft GIR, for consultation. Whilst Turkey has enacted its Minimum Tax Law, a lot of the detailed application of the GloBE rules was left to a further Regulation. This Communique therefore provides for the detailed rules for the implementation of the GloBE rules in Turkey.
On September 18, 2025, Croatia opened a consultation on a Draft Bill to amend its Minimum Tax Act. The amendments are primarily to amend the QDMTT accounting standard so that the Croatian QDMTT qualifies for the QDMTT Safe Harbour and to provide for the notification deadline for appointing a designated filing entity.
On September 26, 2025, Hong Kong updated its Pillar 2 guidance to include information on its Pillar 2 Portal, applications for Group Codes and mandatory e-filing of profit tax returns for Pillar 2 groups.
On September 29, 2025, the Federal Ministry of Finance opened a consultation on a Draft Regulation for the implementation of the Minimum Tax Act. This provides for compliance rules for the exchange of the GIR and simplified reporting.
We keep track of all domestic Pillar Two forms issued to date, including links to domestic forms and notices for each relevant jurisdiction.
On September 16, 2025, The Netherlands Cabinet issued a Draft Bill for the Second Amendment to the Minimum Tax Act to implement the December 2023, June 2024 and January 2025 OECD Administrative Guidance (as well as the EU DAC 9 proposals).
Japan has launched its Multinational Enterprise Information Reporting Portal for filing Pillar 2 returns.
On 6 September 2025, Nigeria’s Tax Act 2025 was published in the Official Gazette. This includes a DMTT (without any of the detailed GloBE adjustments yet applying).
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