Publisher's Synopsis
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.
