Dec 21, 2023
The Government has launched a consultation exercise to gather views on the implementation details of the global minimum tax under Pillar Two of the international tax reform proposals drawn up by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to address base erosion and profit shifting risks arising from the digitalisation of the economy (commonly known as BEPS 2.0)
The BEPS 2.0 package was promulgated by the OECD in October 2021. The goal of the global anti-base erosion (GloBE) rules under Pillar Two of the package is to ensure that large multinational enterprise (MNE) groups with consolidated annual revenue of at least 750 million euros pay a global minimum tax of at least 15 per cent on income derived by their constituent entities in every jurisdiction where they operate, thereby putting a floor on competition over corporate income tax. The implementation of the global minimum tax will reduce the latitude for jurisdictions to introduce tax exemption or extremely low preferential tax rate as a means to enhance their tax competitiveness in future, thus creating a more level playing field in terms of taxation. In 2021, Hong Kong joined more than 130 jurisdictions in committing to implementing BEPS 2.0.
The Government has proposed business-friendly features in the overall framework of the implementation of the global minimum tax and the HKMTT. These include:
aligning the design of the HKMTT, including the scope and tax rate, with that of the global minimum tax to ensure simplicity of the regime;
allowing an in-scope MNE group to decide on how the HKMTT payable is allocated among its Hong Kong entities to provide for flexibility;
providing for safe harbours in the framework to relieve compliance burden and enhance tax certainty;
and
Please click into the following for the CONSULTATION PAPER
and send in your comments before 20 March 2024.