Empirical Study Of Transfer Pricing And The Intangibles

Transfer pricing is an ancient phenomenon with far more consequence in today's business environment. A significant volume of global trade nowadays consists of international transfers of tangibles: goods and services, capital (such as money) and intangibles (such as intellectual property) within an MNE group; such transfers are called "intra-group" transactions which continued to grow exponentially in all international transactions. When these transfers take place, the values of those transfers become significant both to the MNEs and various tax authorities. For tangible goods and services, the values are easily ascertainable and thus, making the transfer pricing methodology less arduous and the framework easily acceptable between the stakeholders. For intangibles, however, the valuation is more complex and the difficulties attendant to transfer pricing are more contentious. It is against this backdrop that this book examines the complexity of transfer pricing of intangibles and the attendant difficulties of the methodology to determining the arm's length principle of any transaction involving intangible assets. This study is an attempt to find ways to placate the frictions between tax authorities and multinational enterprises (MNEs) that Transfer Pricing of intangibles often brings. The objectives of this study are four-fold. First, it compares case laws from the United States and selected jurisdictions - - the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, and Germany to identify the disparities and similarities of legal opinions on Transfer Pricing of intangibles. Second, it identifies any uniformity in the judicial interpretation of arm's length pricing of intangible assets. Third, it examines the focus of conflicts between tax authorities and multinational enterprises. Fourth, it explores any existing legal solutions that may help placate, or altogether, avoid the frictions between the stakeholders while formulating alternative dispute resolutions. The book provides empirical evidence of Transfer Pricing practices and the attendant difficulties by comparing the judicial review of the conflicts between the stakeholders in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Italy, and Germany to show the relative effectiveness, or lack thereof, of judicial intervention. Specifically, the book underscores the judicial uncertainty in the resolution of transfer pricing issue relating to intangibles and explores the use of augmented APAs as alternative resolution of Transfer Pricing issues between the stakeholders.

Transfer pricing is an ancient phenomenon with far more consequence in today's business environment. A significant volume of global trade nowadays consists of international transfers of tangibles: goods and services, capital (such as money) and intangibles (such as intellectual property) within an MNE group; such transfers are called "intra-group" transactions which continued to grow exponentially in all international transactions. When these transfers take place, the values of those transfers become significant both to the MNEs and various tax authorities. For tangible goods and services, the values are easily ascertainable and thus, making the transfer pricing methodology less arduous and the framework easily acceptable between the stakeholders. For intangibles, however, the valuation is more complex and the difficulties attendant to transfer pricing are more contentious. It is against this backdrop that this book examines the complexity of transfer pricing of intangibles and the attendant difficulties of the methodology to determining the arm's length principle of any transaction involving intangible assets. This study is an attempt to find ways to placate the frictions between tax authorities and multinational enterprises (MNEs) that Transfer Pricing of intangibles often brings. The objectives of this study are four-fold. First, it compares case laws from the United States and selected jurisdictions - - the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, and Germany to identify the disparities and similarities of legal opinions on Transfer Pricing of intangibles. Second, it identifies any uniformity in the judicial interpretation of arm's length pricing of intangible assets. Third, it examines the focus of conflicts between tax authorities and multinational enterprises. Fourth, it explores any existing legal solutions that may help placate, or altogether, avoid the frictions between the stakeholders while formulating alternative dispute resolutions. The book provides empirical evidence of Transfer Pricing practices and the attendant difficulties by comparing the judicial review of the conflicts between the stakeholders in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Italy, and Germany to show the relative effectiveness, or lack thereof, of judicial intervention. Specifically, the book underscores the judicial uncertainty in the resolution of transfer pricing issue relating to intangibles and explores the use of augmented APAs as alternative resolution of Transfer Pricing issues between the stakeholders.

Transfer pricing is an ancient phenomenon with far more consequence in today's business environment. A significant volume of global trade nowadays consists of international transfers of tangibles: goods and services, capital (such as money) and intangibles (such as intellectual property) within an MNE group; such transfers are called "intra-group" transactions which continued to grow exponentially in all international transactions. When these transfers take place, the values of those transfers become significant both to the MNEs and various tax authorities. For tangible goods and services, the values are easily ascertainable and thus, making the transfer pricing methodology less arduous and the framework easily acceptable between the stakeholders. For intangibles, however, the valuation is more complex and the difficulties attendant to transfer pricing are more contentious. It is against this backdrop that this book examines the complexity of transfer pricing of intangibles and the attendant difficulties of the methodology to determining the arm's length principle of any transaction involving intangible assets. This study is an attempt to find ways to placate the frictions between tax authorities and multinational enterprises (MNEs) that Transfer Pricing of intangibles often brings. The objectives of this study are four-fold. First, it compares case laws from the United States and selected jurisdictions - - the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, and Germany to identify the disparities and similarities of legal opinions on Transfer Pricing of intangibles. Second, it identifies any uniformity in the judicial interpretation of arm's length pricing of intangible assets. Third, it examines the focus of conflicts between tax authorities and multinational enterprises. Fourth, it explores any existing legal solutions that may help placate, or altogether, avoid the frictions between the stakeholders while formulating alternative dispute resolutions. The book provides empirical evidence of Transfer Pricing practices and the attendant difficulties by comparing the judicial review of the conflicts between the stakeholders in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Italy, and Germany to show the relative effectiveness, or lack thereof, of judicial intervention. Specifically, the book underscores the judicial uncertainty in the resolution of transfer pricing issue relating to intangibles and explores the use of augmented APAs as alternative resolution of Transfer Pricing issues between the stakeholders.

Transactions involving intellectual property play an increasingly significant role in economic activity at every level from global to local, with particular challenges for taxation and revenue authorities. Moreover, the manifold complexities associated with identifying, valuing and transferring intangibles make this an issue requiring a creative review of existing transfer pricing methodologies and techniques. In this ground-breaking new study, Michelle Markham offers an in-depth examination of attitudes at the forefront of this rapidly evolving area of taxation law, focusing her work on a comparative analysis of the US, OECD, and Australian perspectives on the transfer pricing of intangible assets. The Transfer Pricing of Intangibles not only highlights the current problems encountered in inter-affiliate transactions of intangible property, but also attempts to offer a variety of solutions to these problems. Among the issues explored are the following: how the tax treatment of intangible in the context of transfer pricing has become a major international tax concern;definitional issues which are vital to an understanding of transfer pricing;application of the arm's length principle to intangible asset transactions;determination of legal and economic ownership of group intangible assets;intangible asset valuation and transfer;transfer pricing methodologies;global formulary apportionment;transfer pricing documentation requirements;penalties for non-compliance;resolution of transfer pricing disputes; and,advance pricing agreements Revenue authorities, multinational enterprise executives, and tax practitioners around the world will greatly appreciate the recommendations and solutions proposed in this knowledgeable and thoughtful book. Its acute sense of the opportunities and pitfalls of an ever-more-complex area of economic activity place it in a category of its own, of inestimable benefit to interested parties.

Transfer pricing treatment of intangibles: Issues und developments In recent decades, intangibles have become one of the most relevant success factors for Multinational Enterprises (MNEs). Along with the increasing importance of intangibles for economies, their tax treatment has also been under scrutiny which includes inter alia respective transfer pricing issues. MNEs are seeking for the best ways to optimize their business arrangements with the related intangibles while, at the same time, getting the most tax-efficient treatment. On the other hand, tax authorities have become increasingly concerned with the ease that intangibles can be used in aggressive planning. These concerns have been noticed and addressed by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development which presented its main findings with respect to transfer pricing aspects of intangibles in Action 8 of the BEPS Project in 2015 and in the 2017 OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines. This book is based on the outcomes of the presentations and discussions held during the WU Transfer Pricing Symposium, ‘Transfer Pricing and Intangibles: Current Developments, Relevant Issues and Possible Solutions’, that took place in October 2018 at the WU Vienna University of Economics and Business. The publication discusses the most important issues and recent developments related to transfer pricing treatment of intangibles. Starting with the definition of intangibles, it further deals with topics such as appropriate attribution of intangible-related profits, structuring of intangibles in MNEs, and proper valuation of intangibles. The authors, apart from providing a theoretical background to the discussed issues, also present case studies that show how certain issues can be approached in practice. Every chapter ends with a summary of the discussions held during the panels of the Transfer Pricing Symposium in which representatives of tax administrations, multinationals, and tax advisories presented their opinions on the issues at stake.

The paper updates, modifies, and extends research by Grubert (2003) to investigate income shifting from intercompany transfer pricing. The analysis is based on theoretical and regression models developed in Grubert (2003). The models are modified slightly to capture the effects of "real" intercompany tangible, intangible, and services transactions (as opposed to interest 'income stripping' through intercompany or interbranch debt), and extended to incorporate data relating to cost sharing arrangements. Although some caution is required in interpreting the transfer pricing implications from the regression results, the empirical analysis generally supports concerns about potential non-arm's length income shifting under current transfer pricing rules.

The valuation of intangibles as they are transferred from country to country but within multinational enterprise networks is major issue in taxation.

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.