SK Rental SAS had filed an appeal against the tax authorities’ transfer pricing adjustment of its 2016 income tax return. The taxpayer argued that the tax authorities’ assessment were irregular and disregarded transfer pricing operations relating to the acquisition of depreciable fixed assets. Along with its claim, the company requested that an expert opinion prepared by Deloitte and a technical analysis by Crowe Co SAS on transfer pricing for 2016 be admitted as evidence.
The Administrative Court accepted the documentary evidence and administrative records, but rejected the expert and technical analyses.
SK Rental SAS appealed this decision.
Judgment
The Supreme Administrative revoked the lower court’s order denying the expert and technical evidence and instead decreed their admission.
The Court held that, in tax litigation, the valuation of evidence must adhere to the principles of relevancy, pertinency and usefulness. The Court emphasised that expert reports and technical analyses are an appropriate means of proof in transfer pricing matters since these issues involve specialised knowledge that cannot be substituted by ordinary documents.
The Court recalled that judges must ensure that all lawful and necessary evidence is admitted to clarify the facts in dispute, and are not limited to examining already submitted documents.
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