No member of the pooling arrangement would expect to participate in the transaction if it made them any worse off than their next best option. The analysis of an MNE’s decision to participate in a cash pool arrangement should be done with reference to its options realistically available, taking into account that an MNE can obtain benefits as a member of the cash pool other than an improved interest rate (see paragraph 10.146) ... Read more

The cash pool member is likely to be participating in providing liquidity as part of a broader group strategy, an arrangement in which the member can have a credit or debit position, which may include among its aims a range of benefits that can only be achieved as part of a collective strategy involving the pool members, done for the benefit of all of the pool participants, and the membership of which is limited to entities within the MNE group. Pool participants deposit cash to the pool (or withdraw cash from the pool), and not to (or from) a particular cash pool member ... Read more

K-Bul is a Bulgarian subsidiary in the K Group. In the years 2007 to 2013 certain financial intra-group contracts were entered (Two financial service contract – concluded on 02.10.2007 and a Loan agreement concluded on 26.01.2010). Following an audit, the market interest rate was determined by the tax authorities on the basis of the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB)’s interest rate statistics published on the Bank’s website, and for the first two contracts a market interest rate of 8.22% was adopted, as reported by the BNB for October 2007 for euro loans to non-financial corporations for a period of one to five years. The loan agreement concluded on 26.01.2010 has a market interest rate of 6,88 %, which corresponds to the BNB interest rate statistics for January 2010 for euro loans to non-financial corporations for a period of up to one year. On that basis the taxable income of K-Bul was restated by amounts representing the difference between the interest charged ... Read more