Pandox AB is the parent company of a hotel group active in northern Europe. Pandox AB’s business concept is to acquire hotel property companies with associated external operators running hotel operations. Pandox AB acquires both individual companies and larger portfolios, both in Sweden and abroad. Within the group, the segment is called Property Management. Pandox AB’s main income consists of dividends from the Property Management companies (PM companies), interest income from intra-group loans and compensation for various types of administrative services that Pandox AB provides to the Swedish and foreign PM companies. These services include strategic management, communication, general back-office functions and treasury. The PM companies’ income consists of rental income from the external hotel operators. Following an audit for FY 2013-2017 the Swedish tax authorities found that the affiliated property management entities were only entitled to a risk-free return and that the residual profit should be allocated to the Swedish parent. The tax authorities argued that Pandox AB had ... Read more

The business activity of A S.A. was wholesale of pharmaceutical products to external pharmacies, hospitals, wholesalers (including: to affiliated wholesalers). The tax authority had noted that the company’s name had been changed in FY 2013, and a loss in the amount of PLN […] had been reported in the company’s tax return. An audit revealed that the Company had transferred significant assets (real estate) to a related entity on non-arm’s length terms. The same real estate was then going forward made available to the company on a fee basis under lease and tenancy agreements. The tax authority issued an assessment where a “restructuring fee” in the amount of PLN […] was added to the taxable income, reflecting the amount which would have been achieved if the transaction had been agreed between independent parties. According to the company the tax authority was not entitled at all to examine the compliance of the terms of these transactions with the terms that would ... Read more

In 2007 real estate had been transferred from “G gestão imobiliária S.A.” to “Publicações Real Estate Lda”. The Portuguese tax authority issued an assessment, where the pricing of real estate had been adjusted in accordance with the arm’s length principle, based on the prices paid for real estate in the same area. “Publicações Real Estate Lda” filed an appeal with the Administrative Court, where the assessment was later set aside. An appeal was then filed by the tax authorities with the Administrative Court of Appeal. Judgement of the Court The Court of Appeal upheld the assessment notice issued by the tax authorities and set aside the decision of the Administrative Court. Excerpt “The defendant and the judgment in crisis consider that the transaction chosen by the Tax Authorities is not comparable to the one subject to arithmetic correction and that the burden of proving the factual assumptions that determined such correction was not observed. However, this is not correct. The ... Read more

SARL Cosi Immobilier, is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Swiss company Compagnie de Services Immobiliers SA (Cosi SA). The group is engaged in sale of properties and real estate. Following a tax audit covering the FY 2011 and 2012, an assessment of additional corporate income tax was issued, together with penalties. According to the tax authorities service fees paid by SARL Cosi to its Swiss parent (50% of the the sales commission received) for online marketing of properties and real estates located in France had not been at arm’s length. The company requested the administrative court of Lyon to discharge the assessments, but this request was rejected by the court in a judgement issued 11 December 2018. This decision was then appealed by the company to the Supreme Administrative Court. Judgement of the Supreme Administrative Court The Appeal of Cosi Immobilier was rejected by the Court. Excerpts “In the present case, the company Cosi Immobilier concluded on 17 August ... Read more

At dispute was the definition of the conditions under which a reference price (i.e. a price that would be negotiated between independent persons in normal business relations under the same or similar conditions) cannot be determined and the tax administrator should therefore use the administrative price (i.e. the price determined in accordance with the legal regulation) as the arm’s length price for adjusting the income tax base. In 2013 Automotoklub Masarykův sold K. A. (a person who participated in its management) real estate for the purchase price of CZK 40 000 000. The tax authorities adjusted the tax base in accordance with Section 23(7) of Income tax Act, comparing the agreed (purchase) price with the price determined in accordance with the Act on the Valuation of Property, as amended in the version applicable to the case at hand (hereinafter referred to as the Act on the Valuation of Property), which amounted to CZK 450,786,850. The Regional Court concluded that the ... Read more

Neftemash-Service LLC sold real estate (administrative and warehouse building, land plots, part of a workshop building) to two individuals that were also founders of the company and held the positions of general director and commercial director. The Company claimed the transactions were caused by an urgent need for capital, and that the reason for selling directly to the founders was that no third parties were interested in buying the properties. The Russian tax authorities held that the properties had been sold at non-arms length prices and issued an adjustment based on the market value. The court supported the position of the tax authorities. The price was lower than its market value at the time of sale, and the prices of land plots were substantially lower than their original purchase prices. Prices deviated from the market values multiple times (2-29 times). The tax authorities arguments in regard to the choice of pricing method (which was no a CUP) was found to ... Read more

This case is about deduction of certain “cost” related to sale of property and intragroup financing between an Italian company and a related group company in Luxembourg. Judgment of the Supreme Court The Court ruled partly in favour of the tax authorities and partly in favour of the PDM D srl. I regards to the deduction of the “guarantee” granted in relation to the sale of real estate the Court states: “In the present case, in the absence of proof of the above requirements in the reference financial year (2005/2006), and since the costs in question have not yet been actually incurred, but are future costs that may be incurred in subsequent financial years, following a comparison between the amount actually received from the leases and the fixed amount guaranteed by the seller company and therefore depending on the actual development of the lease relationship, the tax recovery is legitimate. ” In regards to the arm’s length nature of the ... Read more