On June 4, 2024, the Council of Ministers approved in the second round the Bill to transpose European Directive (EU) 2022/2523 of the Council, which establishes a global minimum level of taxation of 15% for large multinational and national companies in the European Union. This decision follows the recommendations of Pillar 2 of the OECD BEPS program, aimed at combating tax base erosion and profit shifting.
The new regulations will affect groups with consolidated net income equal to or greater than 750 million euros, calculated on the financial statements of the parent company in at least two of the last four fiscal years. However, public entities, non-profit organizations and pension funds, among others, are exempt from this regulation.
This legislation will allow Spain to strengthen its measures against aggressive tax planning, complementing the 15% minimum corporate tax rate that was introduced with effect for tax periods starting on or after 1 January 2022. This approach will align Spanish tax policy with international standards and foster a parliamentary debate on global tax harmonisation.
The Directive provides that if the effective tax rate of entities in these groups is less than 15% in a jurisdiction, a supplementary tax will be imposed to achieve this minimum. This supplementary tax will be applied at national level when multinationals or large national groups do not achieve the minimum tax rate of 15% in their jurisdiction.
Spain will implement this complementary tax on the basis of three pivots:
-  National Complementary Tax : Guarantees a minimum taxation of 15% in Spain on the adjusted accounting results of local entities, in line with the parameters of the Directive.
-  Primary Complementary Tax : Applies when the parent company of a multinational group in Spain receives income from foreign subsidiaries with a tax rate of less than 15%, in jurisdictions without a complementary tax .
  Secondary Complementary Tax : It acts as a backup and is activated when the subsidiaries of the multinational group abroad have not been taxed at 15%, falling on the subsidiaries located in Spain.
The Bill provides for the application of the new regulations for tax periods beginning on or after 31 December 2023. Therefore, most multinational groups will have to review the effect of the application of the new framework in the current year 2024.
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For more information on these or other issues related to Spanish law, please do not hesitate to contact the partners at our Spanish office:
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Miguel Bastida
