On 17 April 2015, “Loan Ltd” entered into a bond loan agreement with related parties. The effective interest rate charged to “Loan Ltd” (borrowing costs) in the years under consideration (2016 and 2017) was 8.1%. The interest rate had been determined based on the CUP method and external comparable data. The tax authorities determined the arm’s length interest rate for the loan to be 4,03% and issued an assessment of the additional taxable income resulting from the lower borrowing costs. A complaint was filed by “Loan Ltd” Decision of the Board The Board dismissed the complaint and upheld the assessment of the tax authorities. Excerpt “Because the applicant claims that the audit used inappropriate/non comparable data. Because, however, the audit chose the most reliable internal data in accordance with the OECD Guidelines, namely the interest rate agreed with a third independent bank for the provision ... Read more

Following an audit of “Tin Cup Ltd” for FY 2016 and 2017 an assessment was issued by the tax authorities regarding excessive amounts of waste materials and pricing of intra-group transactions. On the issue of excessive amounts of waste materials, tax deductions was denied by the authorities as the costs was not considered to have been held in the interest of the company, i.e. it did not take place with the purpose of increasing “Tin Cup Ltd” income. On the second issue, the tax authorities found that the most appropriate method for the transactions in question (sales to a related party) was the CUP method. Applying the CUP to the controlled transactions (instead of the TNMM) resulted in additional income of approximately 392.000 EUR in total for FY 2016 and 2017. A complaint was filed by “Tin Cup Ltd” with the Dispute Resolution Board. Decision ... Read more

Following an audit, the Greek tax authorities determined that the profit of “Pharma Distributor Ltd” for sales and service activities had not been determined in accordance with the arm’s length principle. The tax authorities issued an assessment of additional taxable income, rejecting the resale price method used by “Pharma Distributor Ltd” and instead applying the TNMM. An appeal was filed by “Pharma Distributor Ltd”. Judgement of the Tax Court The Court dismissed the appeal in part and allowed it in part. The tax authorities’ assessment was largely upheld in relation to sales activities, where it was found that the prices charged by “Pharma Distributor Ltd” were outside the interquartile range. In relation to the service activities, the Court found that the remuneration for these activities was within the arm’s length range and therefore annulled the assessment. Excerpts “In the light of the above, as regards ... Read more

Following an audit, the Greek tax authorities determined that the remuneration of a Greek Clothing Distributor had not been determined in accordance with the arm’s length principle. On that basis an upwards adjustment of the taxable income was issued. An appeal was filed by “Clothing Distributor Ltd.” Judgement of the Court The court dismissed the appeal and upheld the assessment issued by the tax authorities. “the findings of the audit, as recorded in the partial income tax audit report of 29/12/2021 of the C.E.M.E.P., on which the contested act is based, are considered valid, acceptable and fully justified” Click here for English translation Click here for other translation gr-ded-2022-2400_en_ath-2400_2022 ... Read more

This case deals with VAT treatment of disallowed deductions for intra-group services. Following an audit, an adjustment of the taxable income was issued to “VAT Ltd.” by the tax authorities where intra-group services had been disallowed and VAT had been adjusted as a result. “VAT Ltd.” disagreed with the adjustment and filed an appeal. Judgement of the Tax Court The Tax Court upheld the assessment of the tax authorities. Click here for English translation gr-ded-ath-2074_2022 ... Read more

“Marine Fuel Ltd” was audited for FY 2015 and an assessment was issued by the tax authorities, where the taxable income had been increased due to a transfer pricing adjustment. The tax authorities had dismissed the CUP method chosen by the group and instead applied the transactional net margin method (TNMM). Not satisfied with the adjustment, a complaint was filed by “Marine Fuel Ltd” with the Dispute Settlement Board. Judgement of the Board The Board dismissed the complaint of “Marine Fuel Ltd” and upheld the assessment issued by the tax authorities. Excerpts “As some separate transactions carried out between associated enterprises may need to be assessed as a single transaction in order to determine whether the arm’s length principle is respected, other transactions between these enterprises that were invoiced as a package may need to be assessed separately. A group may combine a package of ... Read more

An assessment was issued for FY 2017, whereby additional income tax was imposed on “GSS Ltd” in the amount of 843.344,38 €, plus a fine of 421.672,19 €, i.e. a total amount of 1.265.016,57 €. Various adjustments had been made and among them interest rates on intra group loans, royalty payments, management fees, and losses related to disposal of shares. Not satisfied with the assessment, an appeal was filed by “GSS Ltd.” Judgement of the Tax Court The court dismissed the appeal of “GSS Ltd.” and upheld the assessment of the tax authorities Excerpts “Because only a few days after the entry of the holdings in its books, it sold them at a price below the nominal value of the companies’ shares, which lacks commercial substance and is not consistent with normal business behaviour. Since it is hereby held that, by means of the specific ... Read more

This case deals with arm’s length remuneration of a Greek Diary Distributor. Following an audit of “Diary Distributor Ltd.”, the Greek tax authorities determined that the prices paid to related parties for FY 2017 had been above the arm’s length price. On that basis an upwards adjustment of the taxable income was issued. An appeal was filed by “Diary Distributor Ltd.” Judgement of the Court The court dismissed the appeal of “Diary Distributor Ltd.” and upheld the assessment of the tax authorities Click here for English translation Click here for other translation gr-ded-2021-579_en_ath-579_2021 ... Read more

This case deals with the choice of transfer pricing method. Following an audit, an upwards adjustment of the taxable income was issued by the tax authorities. The adjustment was based on application of the cost plus method instead of the CUP method as had been chosen by the company. The company disagreed with the assessment and filed an appeal with the tax court. Judgement of the Tax Court The Tax Court allowed the appeal and set aside the assessment of the tax authorities due to lack of statement of reasons for choosing another transfer pricing method. Excerpt “Because the provisions of Article 17 §§§1,2 of the Code of Administrative Procedure (Law 2690/1999) entitled ‘Reasons’ set out the following: “1. The individual administrative act must contain a statement of reasons, which must include a statement of the existence of the legal requirements for its issuance. 2 ... Read more

This case deals with arm’s length pricing of various inter-company loans which had been granted – free of interest – by Cypriot company Ltd. to an affiliate group company. Following an audit of Cypriot company Ltd, an upwards adjustment of the taxable income was issued. The adjustment was based on a comparison of the terms of the controlled transaction and the terms prevailing in transactions between independent parties. The lack of interest on the funds provided (deposit of a remittance minus acceptance of a remittance) was not considered in accordance with the arm’s length principle. Cypriot company Ltd disagreed with the assessment and filed an appeal with the tax court. Judgement of the Tax Court The Tax Court dismissed the appeal of Cypriot company Ltd. in regards of the arm’s length pricing of the loans. Excerpt “It is evident from the above that the bond ... Read more

This case deals with arm’s length pricing of limited risk manufacturing services. Following an audit of the X Ltd, the prices paid to a foreign manufacturer in the group was determined by the Grees tax authorities to have been above the arm’s length price. On that basis an upwards adjustment of the taxable income of X Ltd. was issued. Judgement of the Court The court dismissed the appeal of the X Ltd. Since the audit findings as recorded in the partial income tax audit report of the Head of the C.E.M.E.P. dated 08/07/2020 are found to be valid, thorough and fully substantiated, the present appeal must be dismissed. Click here for English translation Click here for other translation gr-ded-2021-1674_en_ath-1674_2021 ... Read more

“G Pharma Ltd” is a distributor of generic and specialised pharmaceutical products purchased exclusively from affiliated suppliers. It has no significant intangible assets nor does it assume any significant risks. However for 17 consecutive years it has had losses. Following an audit, the tax authorities issued an assessment, where the income of G Pharma Ltd was determined by application of the Transactional Net Margin Method (TNMM). According to the tax authorities a limited risk distributor such as G Pharma Ltd would be expected to be compensated with a small, guaranteed, positive profitability. G Pharma Ltd disagreed with the assessment and filed an appeal. Judgement of the Court The court dismissed the appeal of G Pharma Ltd and upheld the assessment issued by the tax authorities. Excerpts “First, the reasons for the rejection of the final comparable sample of two companies were set out in detail ... Read more

A Greek MNE Group, “Agri Ltd”, was active and specialised in wholesale trade of agricultural machinery, parts and tools. In 2012 a German company was established by the group to distribute products in the Central European region. The pricing of the goods sold by Agri Ltd. to the German distributor was determined by testing the income of Agri Ltd using a TNMM. Following an audit the tax authorities issued a revised tax assessment, where the pricing of the inter-company transactions had instead been determined by applying a traditional cost plus method where the German subsidiary was the tested party. The resulting assessment was appealed by Agri Ltd. Judgement of the Court The court dismissed the appeal of Argri Ltd. “Since the tax audit, documented and clearly concluded that the cost plus margin method should have been chosen for the sales of the applicant to its ... Read more

Following an audit the tax authorities issued a tax assessment and a substantial fine to S.p.A. ST. MEDICAL related to costs deducted in FY 2009, which the tax authorities claimed were partially fictitious. “the Economic Police carried out, on 22.10.2012, a tax audit of the appellant, which, during the contested management period (1.1.-31.12.2009), had as its business the wholesale trade in medical and surgical equipment, tools and similar items, keeping, for the purpose of monitoring its business, books and records of category C of the Commercial Code. During the audit carried out, in addition to the books kept by the appellant, various items of information found at its registered office (sales invoices, service receipts, delivery notes, delivery notes, exclusive distribution contracts between the appellant and foreign companies, with attached price lists of the products to be distributed, etc.) were seized for further processing, including items ... Read more

Following an audit the tax authorities issued a tax assessment and a substantial fine to S.p.A. ST. MEDICAL related to costs deducted in FY 2010, which the tax authorities claimed were partially fictitious. “the Economic Police carried out, on 22.10.2012, a tax audit of the appellant, which, during the contested management period (1.1.-31.12.2010), had as its business the wholesale trade in medical and surgical equipment, tools and similar items, keeping, for the purpose of monitoring its business, books and records of category C of the Commercial Code. During the audit carried out, in addition to the books kept by the appellant, various items of information found at its registered office (sales invoices, service receipts, delivery notes, delivery notes, exclusive distribution contracts between the appellant and foreign companies, with attached price lists of the products to be distributed, etc.) were seized for further processing, including items ... Read more

Following an audit the tax authorities issued a adjustment to BMW Hellas S.A. related to its pricing of imported cars. The adjustment was later annulled by the Administrative Court of Appeal. Not satisfied with this result, the tax authorities then filed an appeal with the Supreme Administrative Court. Judgement of the Supreme Administrative Court The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal of tax authorities and upheld the decision of the Administrative Court of Appeal. Excerpts “Because, as is clear from the above-mentioned provision of Article 137.C(C)(2) of the Customs Code, the customs authorities are not in breach of their obligations under Article 137.C(2) of the Customs Code. 1 of Law No. 3583/2007, smuggling, when importing a vehicle into the country, occurs where the non-payment or reduced payment of the tax or duty provided for by law is the result of the declaration of false information or ... Read more

“Lender Corp” had received a loan from a related party for repayment of outstanding dividends to its shareholders. The tax authority disallowed Lender Corp’s interest expenses on the loan. They found that the receipt of the loan was not in compliance with the provisions of paragraph a of Article 22 of Law No. 4172/2013, since the loan capital was not used in the interest of the company. Although the funds were made available for the fulfilment of obligations, they did not contribute to the generation of income or the development of the company’s business. Hence interest on the loan was considered as a non-deductible business expense. Lender Corp then filed an appeal. Judgement of the Court The court dismissed the appeal of Lender Corp and upheld the decision of the tax authorities. “As is evident from the information in the file of the present appeal, ... Read more

The tax authorities had issued a TP adjustment for FY 2013 later than 18 month after initiating an audit of “O.P.A.P. PROVISION OF SERVICES S.A.” “O.P.A.P. PROVISION OF SERVICES S.A.” disagreed with legal basis for the assessment and filed an appeal. Judgement of the Supreme Court The Supreme Court allowed the appeal of “O.P.A.P. PROVISION OF SERVICES S.A.” and dismissed the assessment issued by the tax authorities. Since, the tax authorities had not carried out and completed its own tax audit within 18 months, these cases were considered definitively closed and time-barred after the 18-month period has passed. In other words, for these cases, the limitation period of the State’s audit right is 18 months and not five years. According to the Supreme Court, a re-inspection could only be carried out after the 18-month period, but within the normal five-year limitation if serious offenses were ... Read more

At issue was the transfer of taxable assets from a shareholder to a 100% owned company, “VSR Inc”. This transfer of resulted in an understatement of profits in a controlled sale of vehicle scrapping rights. Following an audit, the tax authority concluded that the rights had been acquired in the previous quarter from the one transferred and that a sale value below cost could not be justified. According to the tax authorities the arrangement lacked economic or commercial substance. The sole purpose had been to lower the overall taxation. An revised tax assessment – and a substantial fine – was issued by the tax authorities. VSR filed an appeal. Judgement of the Court The court dismissed the appeal and decided in favor of the tax authorities. “Since it is apparent from the above that the above transactions were intended to transfer taxable material from the ... Read more

“SH Loan Ltd” had provided a loan to its shareholder/manager and claimed that it did not expect any profit (interest) from this transaction, since it was not a bank. The tax authorities issued an assessment where additional interest income was added to the income of the company due to a loan granted to its sole shareholder. The additional interest income for the company was determined based on the relevant interest rates from the Bank of Greece’s Financial Situation Statistics. SH Loan Ltd filed an appeal. Judgement of the Court The court dismissed the appeal and upheld the decision of the tax authorities. “Because Mr. , is a person related to the applicant, in accordance with the provisions of Article 2(g) of Law No. 4172/2013, since he is a shareholder (100%), legal representative and member of the Board of Directors. (Chairman and Managing Director), and the ... Read more

Following an audit of “Cyprus Corp” for FY 2011, the tax authorities found that the intra-group purchases worth 6.363.281,83 € for mechanical and medical equipment from a group company in Cyprus, were overpriced by 3.833.503,78 €. Corporate taxation i Cyprus is significantly lower than in Greece. Hence, the overpricing resulted in the Cyprus Corp having technically increased its (high) tax depreciation in Greece and (low) tax profits in Cyprus, which in combination resulted in a lower overall tax payment of the group. An revised tax assessment – and a substantial fine – was issued by the tax authorities. Cypres Corp filed an appeal. Judgement of the Court The court predominantly decided in favor of the tax authorities. “Because, during the financial period 1/1-31/12/2011, Mr K. is a shareholder in the applicant company with a 22.81% share, chairman and managing director until 23/08/2011 and from 30/06/2010 ... Read more

Following an audit of “Cyprus Corp” for FY 2011, the tax authorities found that intra-group purchases worth 5.947.034,44 € for mechanical and medical equipment from a related company in Cyprus, were overpriced by 3.693.150,15 €. Corporate taxation i Cyprus is significantly lower than in Greece. Hence, the overpricing resulted in the Cyprus Corp having technically increased its (high) tax depreciation in Greece and (low) tax profits in Cyprus, which in combination resulted in a lower overall tax payment of the group. An revised tax assessment – and a substantial fine – was issued by the tax authorities. Cypres Corp filed an appeal. Judgement of the Court The court predominantly decided in favor of the tax authorities. “Because, in the financial period 1/1-31/12/2011 Mr. is a shareholder in the applicant company with a 28.18% share, and from 30/06/2010 to 01/11/2012 the sole shareholder of the Cypriot ... Read more