Pillar Two SESHion: ‘Simplified’ safe harbour

Doug McHoney (PwC’s International Tax Services Global Leader) is joined by Steve Kohart, a New York City-based international tax partner at PwC and former advisor to the OECD’s Center for Tax Policy and Administration. Doug and Steve discuss the January side-by-side agreement’s implications for US-parented multinationals, why Pillar Two remains relevant through QDMTTs, and how the CBCR transitional safe harbor bridges to the permanent simplified ETR safe harbor. They unpack what ‘simplified’ really means: financial accounting standards, denominator and numerator adjustments, deferred tax ‘bad DTLs,’ and the practical reality of a third set of books. The conversation also covers JV complications, Chapter 6 M&A/reorg rules, transition provisions (9.1.1–9.1.3) and excess negative taxes, new flexibility for return-to-provision adjustments, integrity rules, and what guidance and compliance planning teams should prioritize next.