We know that it can be tricky to stay on top of all of the constant changes in Transfer Pricing around the world. For that reason, and on a regular basis, we summarise various changes for you in a “highlights reel” newsletter. We hope you find this informative and useful.
THE OECD has released its latest edition of the Transfer Pricing Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and Tax Administrations
On 20 January, the OECD released the latest edition of the Transfer Pricing Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and Tax Administrations.
The changes address guidance on:
- the TP aspects of financial transactions (dealt with in Chapter X, this is, in my view, the biggest change in the 2022 edition);
- the transactional profit split method; and
- hard-to-value intangibles.
To access the Guidelines:
OECD releases new and updated country TP profiles
In December last year, the OECD released new and updated country TP profiles. These include updates to the country TP profiles of, among others, South Africa, Italy, Ireland, Germany, France and Belgium, as well as a new country TP profile for Kenya.
To access these country profiles, refer to the link below:
https://www.oecd.org/tax/transfer-pricing/transfer-pricing-country-profiles.htm
SARS proposes to bring in Advance Pricing Agreements
During late December last year, the South African Revenue Services (SARS) announced its intentions to bring Advance Pricing Agreements into effect in South Africa – good news for taxpayers!
SARS released a document titled “Proposed Model for establishing an Advance Pricing Agreement Model and release of draft legislation”, for comment.
Comments are to be submitted by 31 January 2022.
The link to the document is below:
Discussion Papers | South African Revenue Service (sars.gov.za)
Montenegro introduces a mandatory requirement for TP documentation
On 31 December 2021, Montenegro introduced a mandatory new requirement for companies to prepare and file transfer pricing documentation, with effect from January 1, 2022.
Switzerland publishes related party interest rate safe harbor limits for 2022
The Swiss Federal Tax Administration has published the safe-harbor interest rate limits for shareholders and related party financing for 2022.
The safe harbor rates may be deviated from if it can be shown that the rate is at arm’s length given the circumstances.
Poland’s safe harbor rate of interest in relation to related party loans
In late December last year, the Ministry of Finance in Poland announced the base interest rate and margin for TP purposes for 2022. The announcement specifies five types of base interest rates under five different currencies. The safe harbor is available for income (revenue) from 1 January 2022.
Malta issues draft TP rules for public consideration
In late December last year, Malta issued draft TP rules for public consultation. In terms of the draft TP rules, the rules would be effective from financial years beginning on or after 1 January 2024, and would not apply to transactions below a threshold aggregate arm’s length value of all cross-border arrangements.
Nigeria’s country-by-country reporting obligations
A notice suspending Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting obligations for branches and subsidiaries of MNEs operating in Nigeria, was withdrawn by the FIRS in January this year. The requirements for Nigerian resident branches and subsidiaries (constituent entities) of foreign multinational enterprises (MNEs) to file CbC reports in Nigeria when there is no agreement for automatic exchange of information between Nigeria and the country of residence of the ultimate parent entity (UPE), are therefore back in force, with effect from 1 January 2022.
Portugal releases guidance on APA’s and TP documentation
In December last year, Portugal released guidance relating to APA’s and TP documentation. The guidance included:
- The APA guidance provided clarification regarding certain steps in the APA process.
- The criteria relating to the taxpayers who are required to prepare TP documentation was slightly relaxed, and, importantly, the ministerial order adopted the TP documentation structure in accordance with Action 13 of the OECD’s Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project (completed in 2015).
