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 Actthese 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.

All primary top-up tax amounts, secondary top-up tax amounts and domestic top-up tax amounts of these Constituent Entities are allocated to the group head, thereby concentrating the tax liability on the group head. In addition, the group head must file a tax return pursuant to Section 95 of the Minimum Tax Act.

The group head is determined in accordance with Section 3 (3) of the Minimum Tax Act, using the so-called top-down approach. Generally, as defined in Section 3 (3) Sentence 1 of the Minimum Tax Act, if the Ultimate Parent Entity is located in Germany, the Ultimate Parent Entity is the group head. 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 until this decision is revoked 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 declaration 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. Pursuant to Section 94 Sentence 2 of the Minimum Tax Act, the tax period is the calendar year. Therefore, if the Fiscal Year differs from the calendar year, the group head declaration must be submitted by February 28^th of the year following the end of the Fiscal Year. The Fiscal Year of the Ultimate Parent Entity is decisive, see Section 7 (11) of the Minimum Tax Act.

In the event of a change of the group head, including a revocation by the Ultimate Parent Entity pursuant to Section 3 (3) Sentence 3 of the Minimum Tax Act, the previous group head (the group head to be deregistered) must notify the Federal Central Tax Office of the termination of its status as group head using the form for revoking a group head declaration, see Section 3 (4) Sentence 2 of the Minimum Tax Act. The new group head (the group head to be registered) must inform the Federal Central Tax Office of its status as a new group head by submitting a new group head declaration. If the data of the group head changes, such as its address, the group head must inform the Federal Central Tax Office of these changes by submitting a corrected group head declaration.