Perrigo Company and Subsidiaries is a multinational pharmaceutical group headquartered in the United States, primarily engaged in distributing generic over-the-counter drugs. Beginning in the late 1990s, Perrigo expanded internationally with the assistance of Ernst & Young under a tax-efficient supply chain management (TESCM) plan. As part of this restructuring, Perrigo’s domestic subsidiary L. Perrigo Company assigned a Supply & Distribution Agreement with Dexcel Pharma (relating to a generic omeprazole product) to an Israeli affiliate, Perrigo Israel Trading Limited Partnership and LLC (PITLP/LLC). The LLC had no operational employees or separate operations but assumed the contractual rights, risks and profit potential under the Dexcel agreement. After successful FDA approval and patent litigation settlement, the omeprazole product was launched in the U.S. market in early 2008 and generated approximately $977 million in net sales during the tax years 2009–2012. PITLP/LLC paid L. Perrigo Company for the assignment via a demand note at what Perrigo considered an arm’s length price. The IRS issued ... Read more

In these situations involving the transfer of an intangible or rights in an intangible ex post outcomes can provide a pointer to tax administrations about the arm’s length nature of the ex ante pricing arrangement agreed upon by the associated enterprises, and the existence of uncertainties at the time of the transaction. If there are differences between the ex ante projections and the ex post results which are not due to unforeseeable developments or events, the differences may give an indication that the pricing arrangement agreed upon by the associated enterprises at the time the transaction was entered into may not have adequately taken into account the relevant developments or events that might have been expected to affect the value of the intangible and the pricing arrangements adopted ... Read more

The contractual arrangements will generally determine the terms of the funding transaction, as clarified or supplemented by the economic characteristics of the transaction as reflected in the conduct of the parties. The return that would generally be expected by the funder should equal an appropriate risk-adjusted return. Such return can be determined, for example, based on the cost of capital or the return of a realistic alternative investment with comparable economic characteristics. In determining an appropriate return for the funding activities, it is important to consider the financing options realistically available to the party receiving the funds. There may be a difference between the return expected by the funder on an ex ante basis and the actual return received on an ex post basis. For example, when the funder provides a loan for a fixed amount at a fixed interest rate, the difference between the actual and expected returns will reflect the risk playing out that the borrower cannot make ... Read more

For instance, consider a situation where Company F advances a loan to an associated enterprise, Company D, which undertakes the development of an intangible. Consider further that under the guidance in this chapter it is determined that Company F controls and consequently is allocated the financial risk associated with funding the development of the intangible, including the potential risk of Company D failing to develop the intangible and therefore being unable to repay the loan. However, Company F does not assume the risk of developing the intangible, which is entirely assumed by Company D under the accurate delineation of the actual transaction. Accordingly, in the event that the ex post results derived from the exploitation of the developed intangible were higher (or lower) than the results calculated on an ex ante basis, Company F would not be entitled to that difference but to a risk-adjusted rate of return as described in this section ... Read more

For instance, consider a situation where Company F advances a loan to an associated enterprise, Company D, which undertakes the development of an intangible. Consider further that under the guidance in this chapter it is determined that Company F controls and consequently is allocated the financial risk associated with funding the development of the intangible, including the potential risk of Company D failing to develop the intangible and therefore being unable to repay the loan. However, Company F does not assume the risk of developing the intangible, which is entirely assumed by Company D under the accurate delineation of the actual transaction. Accordingly, in the event that the ex post results derived from the exploitation of the developed intangible were higher (or lower) than the results calculated on an ex ante basis, Company F would not be entitled to that difference but to a risk-adjusted rate of return as described in this section ... Read more