This is a new Safe Harbour included in the January 2026 OECD Side-by-Side Tax Package (see: Tax Challenges Arising from the Digitalisation of the Economy – Global Anti-Base Erosion Model Rules (Pillar Two), Side-by-Side Package).
Side-by-Side (SbS) Safe Harbour
The SbS Safe Harbour excludes an MNE group from the IIR and UTPR (not QDMTT) where its UPE is located in a qualifying SbS jurisdiction. A qualifying SbS jurisdiction is a jurisdiction that has an eligible domestic tax regime and an eligible worldwide tax regime (generally required to be in place before January 1, 2026) as well as providing a FTC for QDMTTs.
Various conditions are required to be met for a tax system to qualify as an eligible domestic tax system or an eligible worldwide tax regime (eg for an eligible domestic system its statutory nominal CIT rate is at least 20%), however in both cases there must not be a material risk that the GloBE ETR would be below 15%.
Whether a jurisdiction qualifies as a qualifying SbS regime will be determined by the OECD and the jurisdiction will be included in the Central Record (similar to how DMTTs that qualify as QDMTTs etc are). To date only the USA is recognised by the OECD as a qualifying SbS regime.
The SbS Safe Harbour will apply for Fiscal Years from January 1, 2026.
UPE Safe Harbour
The UPE Safe Harbour is similar to the SbS Safe Harbour but only applies to exclude an MNE group from the UTPR on profits located in the UPE jurisdiction. However to qualify a jurisdiction only needs to have an eligible domestic tax regime (not an eligible worldwide tax regime as required for the SbS Safe Harbour).
As with the SbS Safe Harbour, Qualified UPE Regimes will be listed in the OECD Central Record and this Safe Harbour will apply from January 1, 2026.
On June 26, 2026, Cyprus issued Decree 272/2026 to confirm entry-into-force dates for the main January 2026 OECD safe harbour package
On June 22, 2026, the UAE issued Ministerial Decision No. 96 of 2026 to implement the OECD Side-by-Side Tax Package.
On June 26, 2026, Turkey announced an extension to the filing of its GloBE tax return and payment from June 30, 2026 to July 31, 2026.
On June 16, 2026, the Dutch Ministry of Finance opened an internet consultation on the Draft Safe-Harbour Bill. The consultation closes on 14 July 2026 and provides draft legislation to implement the OECD Side-by-Side package into the Dutch domestic regime.
On June 15, 2026, the Cyprus Tax Department issued two announcements on the domestic implementation of the Pillar Two framework. The first concerned the European Commission’s position on Cyprus’ Income Inclusion Rule (IIR). The second addressed filing deadlines and compliance obligations for Cypriot constituent entities and joint ventures under Law 151(I)/2024.
On June 10, 2026, the EU issued the ‘Manual for MNE Groups on Global Minimum Tax (Pillar Two) Compliance Obligations‘. This provides country level analysis of Pillar Two filings in Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Poland, Romania, Slovenia and Sweden.
A practical overview of the Dutch GloBE Information Return (GIR) filing process, including BIA terminology, deadlines, XML format, Digipoort submission, security, validation, notification obligations and governance controls.
Singapore has opened a consultation on the proposed Finance (Income Taxes) Bill 2026, a package that would amend the Income Tax Act 1947 and the Multinational Enterprise (Minimum Tax) Act 2024.
On June 8, 2026, the OECD released the Guidance on the use of the GIR XML Schema for the first GloBE filing and exchange cycle. This provides guidance for the use of the GIR XML Schema for first GloBE filings and exchanges in 2026 including practical fixes, workarounds and the switch-off of certain validation rules.
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