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| 1 | --- |
| 2 | name: corporate-income-tax-workflow-base |
| 3 | description: > |
| 4 | Tier 1 workflow base for corporate income tax skills serving small, medium, and large companies across jurisdictions. Contains the workflow runbook, conservative defaults principle, structured intake form, reviewer-oriented output spec, self-checks, global refusal catalogue, citation discipline, and content skill slot contract. Workflow architecture only — no tax content, no rates, no thresholds, no form line references, no year-specific figures. MUST be loaded alongside at least one content skill that provides actual corporate income tax rules and current-year figures for a specific jurisdiction. Assumes a human reviewer credentialed under the local equivalent of Circular 230 (CPA, CA, CTA, EA, Chartered Tax Advisor, Steuerberater, expert-comptable, commercialista, etc.) reviews and signs off on every output before it reaches the taxpayer or the tax authority. |
| 5 | version: 0.1 |
| 6 | jurisdiction: GLOBAL |
| 7 | category: foundation |
| 8 | verified_by: pending |
| 9 | --- |
| 10 | |
| 11 | # Corporate Income Tax Workflow Base v0.1 |
| 12 | |
| 13 | ## What this file is |
| 14 | |
| 15 | This is the **Tier 1 workflow base** for any corporate income tax content skill. It does not contain country-specific tax rules. It contains: |
| 16 | |
| 17 | - The standard runbook for preparing a corporate income tax computation, return, and reviewer brief |
| 18 | - The structured intake form for gathering inputs from a corporate client |
| 19 | - The output specification for a reviewer-ready working paper |
| 20 | - The global refusal catalogue — situations a content skill must escalate to a credentialed practitioner without computing |
| 21 | - The 18 self-checks |
| 22 | - The citation discipline |
| 23 | - The Pillar Two interaction protocol |
| 24 | - The slot contract that every country-level content skill must fill |
| 25 | |
| 26 | **Every corporate income tax skill MUST be loaded alongside this base.** |
| 27 | |
| 28 | --- |
| 29 | |
| 30 | ## Section 1 — Audience and assumptions |
| 31 | |
| 32 | This base assumes: |
| 33 | |
| 34 | - The **taxpayer** is a **corporation** (incorporated entity) — not a partnership, trust, sole proprietorship, or individual |
| 35 | - The **filing currency** is the corporation's functional currency |
| 36 | - The corporation maintains accounting records under either local GAAP or IFRS (see `ifrs-local-gaap-reconciliation.md` for reconciliation) |
| 37 | - A **credentialed reviewer** (CPA / CA / CTA / Steuerberater / equivalent) reviews and signs off on every output before it is filed |
| 38 | - The corporation is in scope for the country's general corporate income tax — NOT a special regime (banking, insurance, REIT, fund, oil and gas, mining, shipping, aviation, charity — these require sector skills) |
| 39 | |
| 40 | --- |
| 41 | |
| 42 | ## Section 2 — The runbook |
| 43 | |
| 44 | ### Step 0 — Onboarding (always first) |
| 45 | |
| 46 | Run the intake form (Section 4). Confirm: |
| 47 | - Country of incorporation |
| 48 | - Country of tax residence (place of effective management — POEM) |
| 49 | - Filing year-end date |
| 50 | - Corporate size and threshold tests (small / medium / large / MNE) |
| 51 | - Accounting framework (local GAAP / IFRS / Ind AS / etc.) |
| 52 | - Any consolidated / group tax filing status (Organschaft, intégration fiscale, group relief, etc.) |
| 53 | - Any in-scope regime overlays (Pillar Two, CFC, BEAT, GILTI) |
| 54 | |
| 55 | If any of: cross-border activities; multiple shareholders with different tax residences; loss-making with restructuring; ongoing audit; M&A in the year → flag to reviewer before computation. |
| 56 | |
| 57 | ### Step 1 — Reconcile accounting profit to tax profit |
| 58 | |
| 59 | Start from the audited / approved profit-before-tax (PBT) per the corporation's accounting framework. Walk through: |
| 60 | |
| 61 | | Adjustment category | Direction | Example | |
| 62 | |---|---|---| |
| 63 | | Non-deductible expenses | Add back | Fines, penalties, certain entertainment | |
| 64 | | Tax-exempt income | Subtract | Inter-corporate dividends within participation exemption; certain investment income | |
| 65 | | Timing differences | ± | Depreciation (book vs tax), provisions, IFRS leases | |
| 66 | | Disallowed depreciation / interest | ± | Interest deduction limitations | |
| 67 | | Loss utilization | ± | Brought-forward losses; group relief | |
| 68 | | GAAR / anti-abuse override | If applicable | Refer to reviewer | |
| 69 | |
| 70 | ### Step 2 — Apply jurisdiction-specific rate |
| 71 | |
| 72 | Apply the headline corporate income tax rate from the content skill. Where multiple rates apply (small-company rate, lower rate on first slice, surcharges), apply per the content skill's bracket schedule. |
| 73 | |
| 74 | ### Step 3 — Apply credits and offsets |
| 75 | |
| 76 | - R&D credits (see `rd-tax-credits-matrix.md`) |
| 77 | - Patent / IP box benefit (see `ip-patent-box-matrix.md`) |
| 78 | - Foreign tax credits |
| 79 | - Group relief utilisation |
| 80 | - Withholding tax credits on receipts |
| 81 | - Anti-double taxation relief |
| 82 | |
| 83 | ### Step 4 — Compute and reconcile |
| 84 | |
| 85 | - Tax liability before payments |
| 86 | - Less: provisional / advance payments made during the year |
| 87 | - Less: foreign tax credit utilisation |
| 88 | - Net tax payable / refundable |
| 89 | |
| 90 | Reconcile to the corporation's accounting tax provision (current + deferred). Document material variances. |
| 91 | |
| 92 | ### Step 5 — Pillar Two overlay (if applicable) |
| 93 | |
| 94 | If the corporation is part of an MNE group with consolidated revenue ≥ EUR 750m (or local-equivalent threshold), apply the Pillar Two analysis from `pillar-two-globe-minimum-tax.md`: |
| 95 | - Compute Adjusted Covered Taxes |
| 96 | - Compute GloBE Income |
| 97 | - Compute jurisdictional ETR |
| 98 | - Apply SBIE and de minimis |
| 99 | - Compute Top-up Tax (IIR / UTPR / QDMTT) |
| 100 | |
| 101 | ### Step 6 — Cross-border overlays |
| 102 | |
| 103 | If the corporation has cross-border activity: |
| 104 | - **Permanent establishment risk** — see `permanent-establishment-risk.md` |
| 105 | - **Withholding tax on outbound payments** — see `withholding-tax-matrix.md` |
| 106 | - **CFC inclusion** — apply local CFC rules |
| 107 | - **BEPS Action 5 IP regime nexus** — see `ip-patent-box-matrix.md` |
| 108 | - **DAC6 / MDR reporting** — see `dac6-mdr-reportable-arrangements.md` |
| 109 | - **CbCR / Action 13** — see CbCR skill (forthcoming) |
| 110 | - **Transfer pricing documentation** — see `transfer-pricing-workflow-base.md` |
| 111 | |
| 112 | ### Step 7 — Deferred tax provision |
| 113 | |
| 114 | Compute the deferred tax position under local GAAP / IFRS: |
| 115 | - Identify all timing differences (book-tax basis differences) |
| 116 | - Apply applicable tax rate (typically substantively enacted future rate) |
| 117 | - Recognise DTAs to the extent recoverable |
| 118 | - Track 5-year DTL recapture risk for Pillar Two (DTLs that do not reverse within 5 years are added back) |
| 119 | |
| 120 | ### Step 8 — Filing assembly |
| 121 | |
| 122 | Produce: |
| 123 | - The return / forms required by the jurisdiction |
| 124 | - The reviewer brief (Section 5) |
| 125 | - The tax provision schedule for the audit |
| 126 | - The tax payment schedule |
| 127 | - The supporting documentation index |
| 128 | |
| 129 | --- |
| 130 | |
| 131 | ## Section 3 — Conservative defaults principle |
| 132 | |
| 133 | When uncertain about any position, choose the treatment that costs more or imposes stricter compliance, never less. Your reviewer can correct an over-conservative position. They cannot easily recover from an aggressive one. |
| 134 | |
| 135 | Applied to corporate income tax: |
| 136 | - Where a deduction is uncertain → flag, do not claim |
| 137 | - Where income classification is uncertain → use the higher-taxed classification |
| 138 | - Where a provision could be deductible OR non-deductible → exclude from claim, document the alternative |
| 139 | - Where an exemption is uncertain → treat as taxable |
| 140 | - Where treaty access is uncertain → withhold at domestic rate |
| 141 | - Where loss carryforward is uncertain → defer recognition of the DTA |
| 142 | |
| 143 | --- |
| 144 | |
| 145 | ## Section 4 — Structured intake form |
| 146 | |
| 147 | Every corporate income tax computation begins with: |
| 148 | |
| 149 | ``` |
| 150 | [BASIC INFORMATION] |
| 151 | 1. Corporation legal name and tax ID |
| 152 | 2. Country of incorporation |
| 153 | 3. Country of tax residence (and any conflict with incorporation country) |
| 154 | 4. Tax year-end (calendar year, financial year, accounting period) |
| 155 | 5. Accounting period if shorter than 12 months (specify reason — first year, change of accounting reference date, liquidation) |
| 156 | 6. Audit status (audited, reviewed, compiled, none) and auditor name if audited |
| 157 | 7. Accounting framework (IFRS-IASB, IFRS-EU, local GAAP, FRS 102, Ind AS, ASBE, etc.) |
| 158 | |
| 159 | [SCOPE] |
| 160 | 8. Industry / sector — confirm not in special regime (banking, insurance, REIT, fund, oil/gas, shipping, aviation) |
| 161 | 9. Workforce — number of employees by jurisdiction |
| 162 | 10. Activities by country — sales, services, manufacturing, R&D, IP, finance, holding |
| 163 | 11. Consolidated group status — is this entity part of a wider group? Top parent identity and country |
| 164 | 12. Group's consolidated revenue (for Pillar Two scope test) |
| 165 | |
| 166 | [OWNERSHIP] |
| 167 | 13. Shareholders — name, country of residence, % held, voting rights |
| 168 | 14. Subsidiaries — name, jurisdiction, % held, activity |
| 169 | 15. Major intra-group flows — IP licenses, services, finance, goods |
| 170 | 16. Permanent establishments in other jurisdictions |
| 171 | |
| 172 | [PRIOR YEAR] |
| 173 | 17. Brought-forward losses (by category and country) |
| 174 | 18. Brought-forward credits (R&D, FTC, etc.) |
| 175 | 19. Capital allowances pools and depreciation schedules |
| 176 | 20. Provisional payments made in current year |
| 177 | |
| 178 | [CURRENT YEAR] |
| 179 | 21. Material new positions taken (M&A, restructuring, asset disposal, new operations) |
| 180 | 22. Tax authority interactions in the year (audit, ruling, MAP, APA) |
| 181 | 23. Known controversies or open assessments |
| 182 | 24. DAC6 / MDR / similar disclosures filed in the year |
| 183 | |
| 184 | [CONFIRMATIONS] |
| 185 | 25. The user confirms they will have the output reviewed by a credentialed practitioner before filing |
| 186 | 26. The user confirms they have the authority to provide the data above |
| 187 | ``` |
| 188 | |
| 189 | --- |
| 190 | |
| 191 | ## Section 5 — Output specification |
| 192 | |
| 193 | Every corporate income tax skill must produce a reviewer brief containing: |
| 194 | |
| 195 | ``` |
| 196 | 1. Executive summary (1 page) |
| 197 | - Tax position: total liability, refunds, balance due |
| 198 | - Year-over-year movement and key drivers |
| 199 | - Reviewer attention items (flagged [T2] or [T3]) |
| 200 | |
| 201 | 2. Computation walk-through |
| 202 | - Profit before tax (per audited financials) |
| 203 | - Reconciliation to taxable profit (line-by-line adjustments with citations) |
| 204 | - Tax at headline rate |
| 205 | - Credits and offsets |
| 206 | - Net tax liability |
| 207 | |
| 208 | 3. Cross-border / Pillar Two analysis (if applicable) |
| 209 | - Permanent establishment risk |
| 210 | - Transfer pricing position |
| 211 | - Withholding tax on outbound payments |
| 212 | - Pillar Two scope, ETR, Top-up Tax |
| 213 | |
| 214 | 4. Deferred tax provision |
| 215 | - All timing differences with measurement |
| 216 | - DTA recoverability assessment |
| 217 | - 5-year recapture risk register |
| 218 | |
| 219 | 5. Supporting schedules |
| 220 | - Capital allowances / depreciation |
| 221 | - Brought-forward losses and credits |
| 222 | - Foreign tax credit utilisation |
| 223 | - Group relief flows |
| 224 | - GAAR risk register |
| 225 | |
| 226 | 6. Reviewer questions |
| 227 | - All [T2] items requiring reviewer judgement |
| 228 | - All [T3] items requiring escalation |
| 229 | |
| 230 | 7. Filing assembly |
| 231 | - Forms required |
| 232 | - Supporting documentation index |
| 233 | - Payment schedule |
| 234 | ``` |
| 235 | |
| 236 | --- |
| 237 | |
| 238 | ## Section 6 — Global refusal catalogue |
| 239 | |
| 240 | Refuse to compute and escalate to a credentialed practitioner if: |
| 241 | |
| 242 | | Refusal | Trigger | |
| 243 | |---|---| |
| 244 | | **R-CIT-1** | Corporation is a regulated financial institution (bank, insurer, asset manager, fund) — load sector skill | |
| 245 | | **R-CIT-2** | Corporation is a REIT or property collective investment vehicle — load sector skill | |
| 246 | | **R-CIT-3** | Corporation is in extractive industries with country-by-country reporting under EU CbCR Directive — load sector skill | |
| 247 | | **R-CIT-4** | Corporation is in shipping / aviation tonnage tax regime — load sector skill | |
| 248 | | **R-CIT-5** | Corporation is a charity / nonprofit — load nonprofit skill | |
| 249 | | **R-CIT-6** | Tax authority is currently auditing or has issued a notice of deficiency — controversy strategy first | |
| 250 | | **R-CIT-7** | The user is requesting an aggressive position (GAAR risk) — reviewer must approve | |
| 251 | | **R-CIT-8** | M&A transaction with material tax-free reorganisation election — reviewer must approve | |
| 252 | | **R-CIT-9** | The corporation's tax residence is in dispute (POEM, treaty tie-breaker) — escalate | |
| 253 | | **R-CIT-10** | The corporation is in liquidation or insolvency — separate procedural rules | |
| 254 | | **R-CIT-11** | The Pillar Two threshold is met but the country has not yet enacted Pillar Two — escalate, complex | |
| 255 | | **R-CIT-12** | The corporation has dual-resident status or hybrid mismatches — escalate | |
| 256 | |
| 257 | --- |
| 258 | |
| 259 | ## Section 7 — 18 self-checks |
| 260 | |
| 261 | Before delivering output, verify: |
| 262 | |
| 263 | 1. [ ] Country of tax residence confirmed against POEM and treaty tie-breaker |
| 264 | 2. [ ] Functional currency identified per IAS 21 / ASC 830 / local GAAP |
| 265 | 3. [ ] Audited financial statements available; opinion is unmodified or modifications documented |
| 266 | 4. [ ] PBT starting point matches the audited financials |
| 267 | 5. [ ] All material non-deductible items added back with citations |
| 268 | 6. [ ] All tax-exempt income subtracted with citations |
| 269 | 7. [ ] Depreciation reconciled: book vs tax with capital allowances schedule |
| 270 | 8. [ ] Brought-forward losses validated against last filed return |
| 271 | 9. [ ] Foreign tax credits supported by withholding certificates / receipts |
| 272 | 10. [ ] Transfer pricing position documented or master / local file ready |
| 273 | 11. [ ] Permanent establishment risk in any non-residence country assessed |
| 274 | 12. [ ] Pillar Two scope tested if group revenue ≥ EUR 750m |
| 275 | 13. [ ] Deferred tax: DTAs recoverable on more-likely-than-not / probable basis |
| 276 | 14. [ ] DTL 5-year recapture register maintained for Pillar Two |
| 277 | 15. [ ] GAAR risk identified contemporaneously, not retroactively |
| 278 | 16. [ ] DAC6 / MDR / equivalent disclosure status confirmed for the year |
| 279 | 17. [ ] Filing deadline, payment deadline, and instalment schedule plotted |
| 280 | 18. [ ] Output flags every [T2]/[T3] item for reviewer judgement and includes the reviewer brief |
| 281 | |
| 282 | --- |
| 283 | |
| 284 | ## Section 8 — Citation discipline |
| 285 | |
| 286 | Every figure in the reviewer brief must trace to: |
| 287 | - A statutory section (e.g., IRC §163(j), CGI Article 209, KStG §8, ITA §247) |
| 288 | - A regulatory citation (Treas. Reg., DGFiP BOI, HMRC manual, ATO PCG) |
| 289 | - A judicial decision where positional |
| 290 | - The corporation's accounting records line item (general ledger account, journal entry) |
| 291 | |
| 292 | No figure may rely on "general practice" or "common interpretation" without explicit reviewer escalation. |
| 293 | |
| 294 | --- |
| 295 | |
| 296 | ## Section 9 — Slot contract for country content skills |
| 297 | |
| 298 | Every country-level corporate income tax content skill must populate: |
| 299 | |
| 300 | ``` |
| 301 | [REGIME IDENTIFICATION] |
| 302 | - Jurisdiction code (ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 or jurisdiction-specific) |
| 303 | - Statutory framework (act name, sections) |
| 304 | - Tax authority name and portal |
| 305 | - Filing form numbers |
| 306 | - Filing deadline |
| 307 | - Payment / instalment schedule |
| 308 | |
| 309 | [RATES] |
| 310 | - Headline corporate income tax rate |
| 311 | - Small company / reduced rate (if any) |
| 312 | - Surcharges (national / regional / sectoral) |
| 313 | - Reduced rates by activity (IP box, R&D, manufacturing zone) |
| 314 | - Branch profits tax rate |
| 315 | |
| 316 | [ADJUSTMENTS] |
| 317 | - Statutory list of non-deductible expenses |
| 318 | - Statutory list of tax-exempt income (participation exemption, etc.) |
| 319 | - Depreciation rules (tax life vs accounting life) |
| 320 | - Interest deduction limitation (ATAD-equivalent, §163(j), thin cap) |
| 321 | |
| 322 | [LOSSES] |
| 323 | - Carryforward period |
| 324 | - Carryforward cap (% of profit, currency cap) |
| 325 | - Carryback availability |
| 326 | - Change of ownership restrictions |
| 327 | - Group relief mechanism |
| 328 | |
| 329 | [CREDITS] |
| 330 | - R&D credit (cross-ref to skill) |
| 331 | - Patent / IP box (cross-ref to skill) |
| 332 | - Foreign tax credit mechanism |
| 333 | - Investment credits |
| 334 | - Withholding tax credits |
| 335 | |
| 336 | [FILING MECHANICS] |
| 337 | - Form numbers |
| 338 | - Submission portal / format |
| 339 | - Supporting schedules required |
| 340 | - Audit thresholds |
| 341 | |
| 342 | [ANTI-AVOIDANCE] |
| 343 | - GAAR text and key tests |
| 344 | - CFC rules |
| 345 | - Hybrid mismatch rules |
| 346 | - BEAT / GILTI equivalent if applicable |
| 347 | |
| 348 | [PILLAR TWO OVERLAY] |
| 349 | - QDMTT in force? |
| 350 | - IIR in force? |
| 351 | - UTPR in force? |
| 352 | - Domestic top-up mechanism |
| 353 | |
| 354 | [CROSS-REFERENCES] |
| 355 | - Withholding tax matrix (this skill) |
| 356 | - Pillar Two (this skill) |
| 357 | - DAC6 / MDR (this skill if EU) |
| 358 | - IP box (this skill if regime exists) |
| 359 | - R&D credit (this skill if regime exists) |
| 360 | - Free zone overlay (this skill if applicable) |
| 361 | - Transfer pricing workflow base |
| 362 | ``` |
| 363 | |
| 364 | --- |
| 365 | |
| 366 | ## Section 10 — Disclaimer |
| 367 | |
| 368 | This workflow base produces working papers for review by credentialed practitioners, not direct tax advice. Every output is subject to credentialed reviewer sign-off before filing or acting upon. |
| 369 | |
| 370 | The most up-to-date, verified version of this workflow base is maintained at [openaccountants.com](https://openaccountants.com). |
| 371 |
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About
Tier 1 workflow base for corporate income tax skills serving small, medium, and large companies across jurisdictions. Contains the workflow runbook, conservative defaults principle, structured intake form, reviewer-oriented output spec, self-checks, global refusal catalogue, citation discipline, and content skill slot contract. Workflow architecture only — no tax content, no rates, no thresholds, no form line references, no year-specific figures. MUST be loaded alongside at least one content skill that provides actual corporate income tax rules and current-year figures for a specific jurisdiction. Assumes a human reviewer credentialed under the local equivalent of Circular 230 (CPA, CA, CTA, EA, Chartered Tax Advisor, Steuerberater, expert-comptable, commercialista, etc.) reviews and signs off on every output before it reaches the taxpayer or the tax authority.
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