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 8, 2026, Mauritius issued its QDMTT regulations to implement its QDMTT.
On 3 August 2026, Korea’s Ministry of Finance and Economy released its 2026 Tax Reform Proposal. Among its international tax measures are proposed amendments intended to implement significant elements of the OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework’s January 2026 Pillar Two Side-by-Side Package.
Decision No. 12 of 2026 introduces a seven-month registration period, transitional deadlines and a five-year notification regime for UAE entities within the domestic minimum top-up tax framework.
Qatar’s General Tax Authority (GTA) activated its Global and Domestic Minimum Tax registration service through the Dhareeba tax platform on 2 August 2026.
On 30 July 2026, the Portuguese Government published Portaria No. 318/2026/1, approving Model 64 – the Pillar Two Top-up Tax Return – and its accompanying completion instructions. The Ministerial Order entered into force and took effect on 31 July 2026.
Analysis of the domestic implementation of the Pillar Two Global Minimum Tax rules in Monaco for accounting periods beginning on or after December 31, 2026.
Monaco has published draft legislation introducing a Qualified Domestic Minimum Top-up Tax (QDMTT) for multinational enterprise groups. The measure is contained in Bill No. 1129 on the minimum taxation of multinational enterprise groups, dated 14 July 2026 and received by Monaco’s Conseil National on 28 July 2026.
On July 23, 2026, Canada has released a proposed targeted amendment to its Global Minimum Tax Act that would broaden the circumstances in which an intra-group financing or investment arrangement must be neutralised when applying the transitional Country-by-Country Reporting (“CbCR”) safe harbour.
On July 17, 2026, Bill No. 8795 was deposited in the Luxembourg Chamber of Deputies. This would implement the OECD’s January 2026 Side-by-Side package, introduce the permanent Simplified ETR Safe Harbour and extend the Transitional CbCR Safe Harbour.
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