In ancient Rome, a college of “augurs” would predict the future by observing the flight patterns of birds, examining the entrails of animal sacrifices, or interpreting natural phenomena. While perhaps less colorful, our method of divination will hopefully be a little more precise. To develop this blog post, we have consulted our own augurs and have summarized all our predictions for transfer pricing developments in the coming year.
Continue Reading Looking Forward: Predictions for 2022
COVID-19
Profitability Threshold
On April 15, 2020, OECD released the report titled “Tax and Fiscal Policy in Response to the Coronavirus Crisis: Strengthening Confidence and Resilience” (the “COVID-19 Response”). The COVID-19 Response discussed the decisive action many governments have taken to contain and mitigate the spread of the virus and to limit the adverse impacts on their citizens…
APMA to COVID-19: Don’t Stop Me Now
On March 23, 2021, the United States’ Advance Pricing and Mutual Agreement Program (“APMA Program”) released its 2020 annual report (“2020 Annual Report”) to the public concerning advance pricing agreements (“APAs”). COVID-19 has caused unprecedented disruptions to taxpayers and tax administrations alike, but the 2020 Annual Report shows that the APMA Program remained highly productive in 2020. Last year taxpayers filed 121 APA requests—the same amount as in 2019. And in 2020, APMA executed 127 APAs—seven more than the prior year.
Continue Reading APMA to COVID-19: Don’t Stop Me Now
OECD Guidance on Pandemic’s Impact on Transfer Pricing
Just in time for the holidays, the OECD has published detailed guidance about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on transfer pricing. The guidance has useful information for taxpayers and tax administrations alike. It contains general advice on the application of basic transfer pricing principles during the pandemic, as well as specific advice on four issues: (i) comparability analyses, (ii) allocating losses, (iii) government-assistance programs, and (iv) advance pricing arrangements (“APAs”). The OECD guidance is broadly consistent with comments we made in a prior post about the impact of the pandemic on transfer pricing.
Continue Reading OECD Guidance on Pandemic’s Impact on Transfer Pricing
Singapore Issues New Guidance on Tax Residency & Permanent Establishments
As discussed in a recent blog post, the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (“IRAS”) has been issuing guidance on the impact of COVID-19 on transfer pricing issues. This week, IRAS issued new forward-looking guidance on (i) the tax residency status of companies and (ii) permanent establishments. This guidance is temporary and applies for the 2021 tax year.
Continue Reading Singapore Issues New Guidance on Tax Residency & Permanent Establishments
Singapore’s Transfer Pricing Guidelines for COVID-Affected Businesses
The Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (“IRAS”) has issued transfer pricing guidelines for companies affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, which includes guidance on documentation requirements, term-testing for related party transactions and Advance Pricing Arrangements (“APA”).
Continue Reading Singapore’s Transfer Pricing Guidelines for COVID-Affected Businesses
Work-From-Home Policies in the Post-COVID Era
COVID-19 has sparked a seismic change in the workplace as many companies have found that working from home (“WFH”) has not diminished employee productivity and that employees prefer its greater flexibility. Given that—and the potential for saving on overhead costs—many companies have announced plans to adopt long-term WFH policies and close or realign office space. The OECD and several countries including the US, UK, Ireland, and Australia have issued guidance that excepts employees temporarily dislocated outside their employer’s country from creating unintended permanent establishments (“PE”)—but long-term WFH employees are not similarly excepted. The US, in particular, has thus far only officially extended PE protection for temporary dislocations of up to 60 calendar days that begin within the emergency period of February 1, 2020 through April 1, 2020.
While many employees that WFH do so from the same country as their employer, that is not always true, and so companies would be wise to perform their due diligence. To that end, this post analyzes some PE issues that a company should consider before it adopts a long-term WFH policy.Continue Reading Work-From-Home Policies in the Post-COVID Era
Termination of Intragroup Agreements in Crisis Times
Multinational Enterprises (“MNE”) that are looking to mitigate their exposure to market changes provoked by crisis may find themselves considering the termination or suspension of intercompany agreements with non-performing parties. Terminating an existing intercompany agreement can very well be a key step that an MNE undertakes to protect its business; however, MNEs should also be aware that terminating arrangements could lead to unintended transfer pricing and tax consequences and may ultimately impact the structure of the group.
Continue Reading Termination of Intragroup Agreements in Crisis Times
Allocation of Catastrophic Costs
COVID-19 has placed unforeseen stress on the distribution structures of Multinational Enterprises (“MNE”) due to catastrophic losses and costs from supply chain interruptions and plummeting demand. Existing intercompany agreements most likely do not cover the allocation of catastrophic costs or losses and several questions may need to be addressed. For example, should catastrophic costs be shared among group members, and if the answer is yes, then how?
Continue Reading Allocation of Catastrophic Costs
“Mutual Dependence”: Authority for Force Majeure in Transfer Pricing
COVID-19 has made force majeure a hot topic in transfer pricing. The idea is that the pandemic was an unexpected development of such power, like a natural disaster, that transfer pricing agreements can be changed to reflect the changed economics of a changed world.
But is there any case authority to support this approach? In fact there is, from one of the largest US transfer pricing cases of the 1990s.Continue Reading “Mutual Dependence”: Authority for Force Majeure in Transfer Pricing