In a global economy where multinational enterprises (MNEs) play a prominent role, governments need to ensure that the taxable profits of MNEs are not artificially shifted out of their jurisdiction and that the tax base reported by MNEs in their country reflects the economic activity undertaken therein. For taxpayers, it is essential to limit the risks of economic double taxation.
OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and Tax Administrations provides guidance on the valuation for tax purposes of cross-border transactions between associated enterprises.
This consolidated version of the OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines includes the revised guidance on safe harbours adopted in 2013, as well as the recent amendments made by the Reports on Actions 8-10 and 13 of the BEPS Actions Plan and conforming changes to Chapter IX.
The taxation of multinational corporate groups has become a major concern in the academic and political debate on the future of international taxation. In particular the arm’s length standard for the determination of transfer prices is under increasing pressure. Many countries and international bodies are now taking a closer look at the use of transfer prices for profit shifting and are exploring alternative mechanisms such as formulary apportionment for the allocation of taxing rights. With regard to this topic, this volume is the first to offer a concise analysis of transfer pricing in the international tax arena from an interdisciplinary legal and economic point of view. Fundamentals such as the efficient allocation of resources within multi-unit firms and distortions between different goals of transfer pricing as well as different aspects of it in tax and corporate law, the traditional OECD approach and practical aspects concerning intangibles, capital and risk allocation are covered by outstanding authors.
Transfer pricing is an area of tax law that has significantly expanded over the last decades. With the globalisation of business activities, the threat of international double taxation, and the need for States to monitor transfer prices to avoid the illegitimate erosion of their tax base, transfer pricing has become a key question for multinational enterprises and tax administrations. The book provides a general overview on the fundamentals of transfer pricing from an OECD perspective. The book also illustrates the fundamentals of transfer pricing with concrete examples based on the structures often used by multinational enterprises when entering into cross-border intercompany transactions. This book is primarily addressed to students reading international tax courses, but may also be of use to tax professionals in matters pertaining to transfer pricing.
Recent years have seen unprecedented public scrutiny over the tax practices of Multinational Enterprise (MNE) groups. Tax policy and administration concerning international transactions, aggressive tax planning, and tax avoidance have become an issue of extensive national and international debate in developed and developing countries alike. Within this context, transfer pricing, historically a subject of limited specialist interest, has attained name recognition amongst a broader global audience that is concerned with equitable fiscal policy and sustainable development. Abusive transfer pricing practices are considered to pose major risk to the direct tax base of many countries and developing countries are particularly vulnerable because corporate tax tends to account for a larger share of their revenue. This handbook is part of the wider WBG engagement in supporting countries with Domestic Resource Mobilization (DRM) by protecting their tax base and aims to cover all relevant aspects that have to be considered when introducing or strengthening transfer pricing regimes. The handbook provides guidance on analytical steps that can be taken to understand a country’s potential exposure to inappropriate transfer pricing (transfer mispricing) and outlines the main areas that require attention in the design and implementation of transfer pricing regimes. A discussion of relevant aspects of the legislative process, including the formulation of a transfer pricing policy, and the role and content of administrative guidance, is combined with the presentation of country examples on the practical application and implementation of the arm’s length principle and on running an effective transfer pricing audit program. Recognizing the importance of transfer pricing regulation and administration for the business environment and investor confidence, this handbook aims to balance the general objective of protecting a country’s tax base and raising additional revenue with investment climate considerations wherever appropriate.
This report presents studies and data available regarding the existence and magnitude of base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS), and contains an overview of global developments that have an impact on corporate tax matters.
Internal Pricing surveys of the transfer pricing literature with a focus on commonly-used pricing schemes using incomplete contracting models. Chapter 2 develops the basic symmetric information model to compare the performance of cost-based and negotiated pricing in the absence of external input markets. Chapter 3 considers market-based pricing and the role of internal price adjustments; it ignores investments and focuses solely on trading incentives. Chapter 4 adds investments to the model of Chapter 3 and shows that investment opportunities further strengthen the case for internal adjustments. Chapter 5 reconsiders the initial analysis of Chapter 2 for the case of asymmetrically informed divisional managers. The book ends with the author's conclusions and an appendix including the mathematical proofs. A key theme running through Internal Pricing is that the firm's central office (i.e headquarters) plays a rather limited role in mediating individual transactions. This captures the stylized empirical fact that in most firms, headquarters designs the broad "rules of the game" by choosing a pricing mechanism and compensation contracts, but usually does not get involved in pricing on a product-by-product basis.
