How to Generate and Submit a Pillar 2 GloBE Information Return to HMRC

Your Pillar 2 calculations may be complete, but the filing process is not.

HMRC receives the GloBE Information Return in the OECD GIR XML format through the Secure Data Exchange Service. If your prepared GIR data currently sits in Excel, a calculation platform, a database or a file supplied by your parent company, it must still be converted into the correct XML structure, checked and submitted through the appropriate HMRC service.

XML Authority is designed for this final technical stage. It provides a direct route from prepared GIR data to a completed HMRC submission, without requiring your team to create or maintain its own GIR XML solution.

What do UK Pillar 2 reporters need to submit?

The GloBE Information Return is separate from the UK Pillar 2 tax return.

The filings use different formats and different HMRC submission routes:

• GloBE Information Return: submitted as OECD GIR XML through SDES.
• UK Pillar 2 tax return: submitted through the Pillar 2 APIs.
• Overseas Return Notification: submitted through the Pillar 2 APIs where the applicable conditions are met.
• Below-Threshold Notification: submitted through the Pillar 2 APIs where required.

An Overseas Return Notification is not an alternative format of the GIR. It is a separate notification that may be relevant where the group return has already been filed in another qualifying jurisdiction.

Your organisation remains responsible for determining which filings apply. Once that decision has been made and the underlying information has been prepared, XML Authority supports the technical reporting and submission process.

From prepared GIR data to HMRC submission

The remaining workflow is straightforward:
Prepared GIR data → structured GIR report → technical checks → GIR XML → SDES submission

XML Authority brings these stages together within one application.

How does XML Authority support GIR reporting?

1. Import your prepared GIR data

You can bring prepared information into XML Authority from:

• Microsoft Excel;
• SQL database tables;
• manual data entry; or
• an existing GIR XML file.

Importing an existing XML file is particularly useful where a parent company, tax adviser or overseas reporting team has already prepared the group return.

Rather than rebuilding the filing, you can open the existing report in XML Authority, review it and make any changes needed for the UK submission.

2. Work with the GIR without editing raw XML

XML Authority presents the OECD GIR schema through structured forms, tables and a report hierarchy.

This gives tax, finance and reporting teams a readable view of the return without requiring them to navigate or manually edit XML code.

Users can review the populated report, inspect the individual GIR sections and confirm that the prepared information has been imported into the intended reporting structure.

3. Run the available technical checks

Before generating the final file, XML Authority checks:

• conformity with the XML Schema;
• fields marked as mandatory by the schema;
• XML data types; and
• issues encountered during data import.

Import and validation issues can be reviewed and corrected before the final XML file is produced.

XML Authority also includes UK-specific automation for generating the required MessageRefID and DocRefID formats, reducing the need to construct these identifiers manually.

The current released validation does not cover the complete OECD GIR business-rule set or verify the underlying Pillar 2 calculations and tax treatment. Its role is to support the technical construction and validation of the GIR XML.

4. Generate and submit the GIR to HMRC

Once the report has been populated, reviewed and technically validated, XML Authority generates the completed OECD GIR XML file.

The file can then be submitted to HMRC through SDES directly from the application.

The UK Pillar 2 tax return, Overseas Return Notification and Below-Threshold Notification use the separate Pillar 2 API functions rather than the SDES file-submission route. For these submissions, the authorised user signs in using the organisation’s own Pillar 2 ID and Government Gateway account. Authority Software does not receive or operate the customer’s Government Gateway credentials.

Why use XML Authority for the UK GIR?

Building an internal GIR XML process creates a new technical project around an already complex tax reporting obligation.

Your team must interpret the schema, build the reporting structure, maintain identifiers, manage imports, generate valid XML and connect the final file to the correct HMRC submission route.

XML Authority removes the need to build that infrastructure internally.
It allows your team to:

• use prepared data from Excel, SQL or an existing XML file;
  work with the GIR through readable forms and tables;
  avoid manually creating or editing raw XML;
  generate UK-specific MessageRefID and DocRefID values;
  identify schema, data-type and import issues;
  generate the completed OECD GIR XML file;
  submit the GIR directly through HMRC SDES; and
  use separate HMRC integrations for the UK Pillar 2 tax return and notifications.
• The result is one controlled technical workflow from prepared GIR information to HMRC submission.

Where does XML Authority fit into your Pillar 2 process?

XML Authority does not calculate Pillar 2 liabilities, determine which filing obligations apply or provide tax advice.

It begins where your tax calculations and reporting decisions end.

Once the GIR information has been prepared and approved, XML Authority gives your team the tools to structure that information correctly, generate the required XML and submit it through the appropriate HMRC service.

Turn prepared GIR data into an HMRC submission

Your GIR data may already be complete. The remaining challenge is converting it into the file HMRC requires and submitting it through the correct route.

XML Authority brings data import, report preparation, technical checking, XML generation and SDES submission into one practical process.

Book a demonstration of XML Authority to see how your existing GIR data can be imported, reviewed, converted into OECD GIR XML and submitted to HMRC.