General information

Presentation of the procedure

Multinational Enterprises are required to submit a GloBE Information Return (GIR). This is to ensure the minimum effective global taxation.

Effective from the 2024 Fiscal Year, Enterprise Groups with Constituent Entities in Germany are required to submit a group head notification, a GIR and a minimum tax return in Germany. The group head notification must be submitted for the first time in 2025 and the GIR and the minimum tax return (to the responsible state tax office) must be submitted for the first time in 2026. The group head notification and the minimum tax report must be transmitted to the Federal Central Tax Office (FCTO - Bundeszentralamt für Steuern, BZSt) via the officially described interface in accordance with the officially prescribed data sets.

Reportable companies

According to Section 1 (1) of the Minimum Tax Act (Mindeststeuergesetz, MinStG), Constituent Entities located in Germany that are members of an Enterprise Group that has reported revenues of €750 million or more in the Consolidated Financial Statements of the Ultimate Parent Entity in at least two of the four Fiscal Years immediately preceding the Fiscal Year (revenue threshold) are subject to minimum tax.

Minimum tax group and group head notification

To simplify the taxation procedure and to reduce the administrative burden on taxpayers and the tax authorities, Section 3 of the Minimum Tax Act governs the formation of a minimum tax group.

If there are several liable Constituent Entities of an Enterprise Group pursuant to Section 1 of the Minimum Tax Act, these Constituent Entities will form a minimum tax group by law. Even in the case of a single liable Constituent Entity of an Enterprise Group pursuant to Section 1 of the Minimum Tax Act, this Constituent Entity forms a minimum tax group and is its group head.

Generally, as defined in Section 3 (3) Sentence 1 of the Minimum Tax Act, the Ultimate Parent Entity is the group head, if it is located in Germany. If the Ultimate Parent Entity is not located in Germany, then the Parent Entity located in Germany is the group head in accordance with Section 3 (3) Sentence 2 of the Minimum Tax Act, provided it is the joint Parent Entity of all Constituent Entities located in Germany.

If the status as group head does not result from Section 3 (3) Sentence 1 and Sentence 2 of the Minimum Tax Act, the Ultimate Parent Entity has to define one of the liable Constituent Entities pursuant to Section 1 of the Minimum Tax Act as the group head in accordance with Section 3 (3) Sentence 3 of the Minimum Tax Act. If no group head is defined pursuant to Section 3 (3) Sentence 3 of the Minimum Tax Act, the group head will be determined by the tax authorities in accordance with Section 3 (3) Sentence 4 of the Minimum Tax Act.

The group head notification to be transmitted by the group head or its representative to the FCTO must contain the following data:

• Name and address details of the group head and the Ultimate Parent Entity
• Tax ID number of the group head and the Ultimate Parent Entity
• Information on the legal obligation of group member status
• Contact details of a contact person of the transmitting company
• Name and address details of the authorized representative in case of a representation

The group head notification must be submitted by the group head or its representative on behalf of the group head no later than two months after the end of the tax period for which the tax liability under the Minimum Tax Act exists.

GloBE Information Return (GIR)

The GIR submitted in Germany contains the following data:

• Personal information about the transmitting Constituent Entity
• Name of the Enterprise Group
• General section with information on the corporate structure of the Enterprise Group
• Personal information about the Ultimate Parent Entity
• Personal information about the relevant Constituent Entities
• Shareholding structure and changes in shareholding structure in the Constituent Entities
• Information on top-up tax amounts
• A summary of the minimum tax information
• Special part with state-related information
• Separate section on the state-by-state distribution of the secondary top-up tax

The FCTO also receives GIRs’ from the participating Pillar 2 partner states if it contains information concerning Germany and Constituent Entities established in Germany with regard to the minimum tax.

The FCTO transmits the available data to the responsible state tax authorities in order to carry out the minimum tax assessment. They serve as support for the minimum tax return to be submitted to the responsible state tax office.

Timing requirements

The GIR is to be filed no later than 18 months after the end of the Fiscal Year for which a GIR is to be prepared for the Enterprise Group for the first time. The GIR submitted in Germany will be transmitted by the FCTO to the competent authorities of the tax jurisdictions concerned if the Federal Republic of Germany and this Jurisdiction have an obligation, under a domestic qualifying competent authority agreement, to exchange information on GIR automatically between their competent authorities.

In subsequent years, the GIR must be transmitted to the FCTO no later than 15 months after the end of the Fiscal Year. The FCTO transmits the GIR to the competent authorities of the tax jurisdictions concerned in the GIR within 18 months after the end of the Fiscal Year.

Information on data transfer

The GIR is transmitted to the FCTO in the prescribed XML format via the mass data interface DIP (digitaler Posteingang - Digital Inbox).

Legal basis

With the publication of the Global Anti-Base Erosion Model Rules (Pillar 2) in December 2021 and the adoption of the EU Directive 2022/2523 in December 2022, it was decided to introduce a global effective minimum taxation for international corporations. The national implementation of the Minimum Tax Act (Mindeststeuergesetz, MinStG) took place in December 2023.

Background

Large groups of companies active in Germany and making profits are to pay taxes as well as small and medium-sized companies on the ground. Global effective minimum taxation is therefore a matter of tax fairness. At the same time, it ensures more equal competition and strengthens Germany’s business location.

The reform of international corporate taxation has two pillars. Under Pillar 1, the two-pillar solution includes in particular the partial redistribution of taxation rights of the largest and most profitable corporations in the world. Under Pillar 2, the introduction of a global effective minimum tax of 15 percent is intended to put an end to, among other things, aggressive tax planning and harmful tax system competition.