A Tanzanian coffee exporter received cash advances from a Swiss company to fund coffee procurement between 2009 and 2011. The Tanzania Revenue Authority treated the parties as associates and applied transfer pricing adjustments under the Income Tax Act. The Court of Appeal dismissed the exporter's appeal in 2025, confirming the associate relationship, upholding the assessments, and excluding foreign exchange loss challenges as questions of fact rather than law ... Read more

Two Portuguese retailers transferred brand ownership to a related Swiss entity for 30-year periods, then deducted royalties for using those brands while continuing to manage, develop, and bear all risks associated with them. The tax authority disallowed the deductions and issued adjustments totalling over €9.6 million. Portugal's Supremo Tribunal Administrativo considered the application for special leave to appeal in 2025 ... Read more

Accenture A/S faced tax assessments on two intra-group transactions: temporary loans of idle employees and royalty payments for intangibles legally owned by a Swiss group entity. The Danish tax authority challenged the arm's length nature of both arrangements. After the Court of Appeal ruled against the taxpayer in 2023, Denmark's Supreme Court reversed that decision in January 2025, finding in favour of Accenture A/S on both issues ... Read more

Three UK Thomson Reuters group companies were assessed over £167 million in diverted profits tax for FY 2015–2018, after HMRC argued their IP services to a Swiss affiliate were underpriced. The companies contended the assessments conflicted with a 2013 advance pricing agreement. The UK Court of Appeal found in favour of the tax authority, ruling the DPT assessments were not inconsistent with the APA, which had expired before the assessment period ... Read more

A Dutch subsidiary of an agricultural processing group restructured in 2009, transferring an ongoing business to a Swiss affiliate without declaring adequate exit profits. The Dutch tax authority assessed over €350 million in additional taxable income. The Court of Appeal upheld the District Court's ruling largely in favour of the tax authority, confirming the transfer pricing adjustment and reversing the burden of proof due to an incorrect tax return filing ... Read more

Keysight Technologies Malaysia successfully challenged an additional assessment of RM821 million on gains from the transfer of technical know-how and marketing intangibles to Agilent Technologies International. The Malaysian tax authority argued negligence and that no outright sale had occurred, as legal rights remained with the taxpayer post-transfer. The Court of Appeal ruled in favour of the taxpayer in June 2024, overturning the assessment and associated penalties ... Read more

A Portuguese retail group transferred brand ownership to a related Swiss entity for 30-year licence arrangements, then deducted royalty payments while retaining all management, promotion, and development costs and risks. The tax authority challenged the deductions, arguing the transfer lacked economic substance. The Tribunal Central Administrativo Sul upheld the assessment in 2024, finding the arrangement could not have occurred between independent parties ... Read more

Oleaginosa Oeste SA exported soybean and sunflower seed oil to a related party in Switzerland at prices the Argentine tax authority deemed not arm's length. The Tax Court and Court of Appeal partially annulled the assessment, but the Supreme Court overturned those decisions in 2024, finding that lower courts had failed to adequately examine the taxpayer's insufficient evidence regarding the date of sales, and remanded the case for reconsideration ... Read more

The Swiss Federal Tax Authorities have published an Article on the status of transfer pricing legislation in Switzerland as of 1 January 2024. The Article describes the existing legal basis for the application of the arm’s length principle in Switzerland and reference is made to the OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines as well as to Swiss administrative practice and case law. The article is available in French, German and English. The English version is provided below ... Read more

Nestlé Argentina disputed the tax authority's attempt to add royalties paid under a technology transfer agreement with Nestlé Switzerland to the customs value of imported goods from 2008 to 2011. The Tax Court revoked the assessment, finding the royalties were not a condition of sale of the imported goods. Argentina's Court of Appeal dismissed the authority's appeal in 2023, confirming the WTO Valuation Agreement criteria had not been satisfied ... Read more

Following a tax audit of PJSC Odesa Port Plant covering controlled transactions on mineral fertiliser exports to Swiss and other non-resident trading companies, Ukraine's tax authority challenged the use of the net profit method, arguing the comparable uncontrolled price method should have applied. The Supreme Administrative Court, in October 2023, remanded the case for reexamination, leaving the transfer pricing method dispute unresolved ... Read more

An Argentine cereals and oilseeds exporter conducted export transactions with related foreign companies, including Glencore International AG, applying selective use of the sixth method under Article 15 of the Income Tax Act. The tax authority AFIP challenged the arm's length pricing and issued an additional tax assessment. Argentina's Federal Tax Court ruled in favour of the tax authority in August 2023, upholding the assessment against the taxpayer ... Read more

A Bulgarian steel producer in the METINVEST group faced additional taxable income assessments following a transfer pricing audit. The Administrative Court annulled the assessment and declared OECD Guidelines inapplicable in Bulgaria. On appeal in 2023, the Supreme Administrative Court upheld the annulment in favour of the taxpayer but corrected the lower court, confirming that OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines do carry legal weight under Bulgarian law ... Read more

A Polish cosmetics distributor purchased goods from a related foreign company under a contract embedding a 3% trademark royalty within the goods price. The company sought a ruling that no withholding tax applied, arguing the royalty was ancillary to the main supply. Poland's Supreme Administrative Court dismissed the appeal in March 2023, upholding the tax authority's position that the trademark royalty payments were distinct and subject to withholding tax under Polish law and the applicable double tax treaty ... Read more

A Portuguese retail group assigned its trademarks to a Swiss entity under long-term licence agreements, then continued paying royalties while bearing all costs and risks of brand management. The tax authority adjusted the royalty payments under the arm's length principle, arguing the transfers lacked economic substance. The Administrative Court of Appeal in 2023 ruled mostly in favour of the tax authority, finding the arrangements would not have occurred between independent parties ... Read more

A Dutch subsidiary processing agricultural products declared €35 million profit, including €2 million in exit gains, following a 2009 restructuring that converted it from a full-fledged manufacturer into a limited-risk service provider. The Dutch tax authority assessed over €350 million. The District Court, appointing an independent expert to value the transferred business, ruled mostly in favour of the tax authority and set taxable profit at €117 million ... Read more

SA Tropicana Europe's French permanent establishment was converted from a full-fledged manufacturer to a limited-risk contract manufacturer in 2009. French tax authorities challenged the restructuring as an abnormal act of management and issued reassessments for 2010–2013. The Administrative Court set aside the assessments, and the Douai Court of Administrative Appeal upheld that decision in favour of the taxpayer in August 2022 ... Read more

McDonald's France entered into a €1.245 billion settlement with French tax authorities in 2022 after investigations revealed that royalty payments to a Luxembourg subsidiary had doubled from 5% to 10% of restaurant turnover following a 2009 restructuring. Authorities found the Luxembourg IP entity lacked economic substance and that the royalty increases were driven primarily by tax savings rather than legitimate business rationale ... Read more

A Malaysian subsidiary of Agilent Technologies received RM 821 million upon converting from a full-fledged manufacturer to a contract manufacturer in 2008 and purportedly transferring its intangibles to a Swiss affiliate. The tax authority assessed the payment as taxable revenue rather than a capital gain from a sale. The Malaysia High Court upheld the assessment in 2022, finding the payment compensated for lost income rather than constituting a genuine transfer of know-how ... Read more

A Swedish pharmaceutical company transferred the Restylane trademark to a Swiss related party and operated limited risk distribution in China. The Swedish Tax Agency challenged the valuation of the trademark transfer in 2011 and the arm's length remuneration for distribution in 2013–2014. The Administrative Court of Appeal upheld the tax authority's adjustments, finding independent parties would have used more recent sales figures, resulting in a significantly higher arm's length trademark value ... Read more

Skechers USA Italia SRL challenged a 2004 transfer pricing assessment in which Italian tax authorities attributed recurring losses to artificially inflated purchase prices paid to its Swiss parent. The taxpayer argued losses reflected start-up costs and a competitive market. After lower courts sided with the authorities, Italy's Supreme Court in 2022 ruled mostly in favour of the taxpayer and remanded the case for reexamination ... Read more

A Dutch tax advisory firm was found liable for damages after advising clients on a royalty routing arrangement that failed to meet arm's length standards. The Netherlands Court of Appeal upheld that Crop had not acted as a reasonably competent adviser, confirming liability for resulting damages. Assessment of the actual loss, including whether clients adequately limited their damage in tax authority negotiations, was referred to separate damages proceedings ... Read more

The appeal court in Paris has confirmed that the Swiss UBS banking group is guilty of having facilitated tax evasion and money laundering in France, and on that basis the banking group was issued a €5,625 million fine plus confiscation of €1 billion and damages in the sum of €800 millions. Read the December 2021 judgment here ... Read more

A French subsidiary of the Atmel semiconductor group was assessed additional corporate tax after selling its Rousset manufacturing plant, with authorities invoking Article 57 to reintegrate a capital loss and costs of a social plan as benefits transferred to the group. The Marseille Court of Appeal, ruling in 2021, sided with the taxpayer, rejecting the tax authority's abnormal act of management characterisation of the business restructuring ... Read more

UBS AG, the Swiss banking group, operated a system facilitating tax evasion and money laundering for wealthy French clients. The Paris Court of Appeal, in December 2021, found UBS AG guilty of illegal banking canvassing and facilitating tax evasion, sentencing it to a €3.75 million fine, €1 billion confiscation, and €800 million in damages to the French State. Its French subsidiary received a fine of €1.875 million for complicity ... Read more

Whirlpool Financial used a Luxembourg-Mexico maquiladora arrangement to allocate appliance sales income to Luxembourg, where it faced no tax. The IRS assessed the income as foreign base company sales income under Subpart F rules. The US Tax Court ruled in favour of the IRS in 2020, and the Court of Appeals upheld that decision in December 2021, confirming the manufacturing branch rule applied to prevent tax avoidance through the structure ... Read more

A new huge leak of financial records revealed by ICIJ, once again shows widespread use of offshore accounts, shell companies and trusts to hide wealth and/or avoid taxes. The new leak is known as the Pandora Papers and follows other recent leaks – lux leak, panama papers, paradise papers. The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists obtained 11.9 million confidential documents from 14 separate legal and financial services firms, which the group said offered “a sweeping look at an industry that helps the world’s ultrawealthy, powerful government officials and other elites conceal trillions of dollars from tax authorities, prosecutors and others.” “The key players in the system include elite institutions – multinational banks, law firms and accounting practices – headquartered in the U.S. and Europe.” The Consortium said the 2.94 terabytes of financial and legal data shows the “offshore money machine operates in every corner of the planet, including the world’s largest democracies,” and involves some of the world’s most well-known ... Read more

A Ukrainian company faced tax authority assessments over controlled transactions including drilling services, crude oil sales, and fixed asset transfers allegedly priced outside arm's length principles. Lower courts had dismissed the assessment, but Ukraine's Supreme Administrative Court set aside those decisions in 2021, finding procedural and substantive errors, and remanded the case to the court of first instance for a full rehearing ... Read more

A French real estate subsidiary paid its Swiss parent 50% of sales commissions under a service agreement covering online property marketing. The French tax authority challenged the fees as not arm's length following audits of FY 2011 and 2012. The Administrative Court of Appeal of Lyon upheld the tax authority's assessment in 2021, rejecting the company's appeal and confirming the additional corporate income tax and penalties ... Read more

New Wave Norway AS, a subsidiary of Swedish New Wave Group AB, paid a concept fee to its parent alongside royalties and sourcing fees to Swiss group entities. Following an audit, the Customs Directorate added the concept fee to the customs value of imported goods. The Norway Court of Appeal ruled in 2021 that this was invalid, finding no sufficient connection between the concept fee and the sellers of the goods ... Read more

Dow Chemical Canada ULC appealed a 2006 reassessment after the Canada Revenue Authority denied a transfer pricing downward adjustment that had been applied in the 2007 year. The Tax Court of Canada considered whether it had jurisdiction to review the denial of the adjustment under section 247 of the Income Tax Act, delivering a decision on the interpretation of the court's appellate scope in transfer pricing disputes ... Read more

A Danish software distributor was converted into a commissionaire for a Swiss hub in 2010. The Danish tax authorities assessed additional income using a DCF model for undocumented intangibles transferred during the restructuring. The Tax Court rejected a discretionary assessment but confirmed that valuable intangibles had been transferred, applying the DCF model with a 10-year useful life rather than an indefinite period, largely upholding the tax authority's position ... Read more

Spain's tax authority denied withholding tax exemption on royalty payments from Colgate Palmolive España to Switzerland, arguing the Swiss recipient was not the beneficial owner under the Spanish-Swiss DTA. The Supreme Court ruled in favour of the taxpayer in 2020, clarifying the limits of dynamic DTA interpretation and whether the beneficial owner concept could be applied to royalties under Article 12 absent explicit treaty language ... Read more

Adecco A/S, a loss-making Danish subsidiary, paid royalties to its Swiss parent for trademarks, know-how and business concept intangibles. The Danish tax authority disallowed DKK 82 million in deductions for 2006–2009, arguing the payments failed the arm's length standard. Denmark's Supreme Court ruled in favour of the taxpayer in 2020, finding that the royalty payments constituted deductible operating expenses under the State Tax Act ... Read more

Whirlpool structured appliance manufacturing in Mexico through a Luxembourg subsidiary to generate stateless income taxable in neither jurisdiction. The IRS applied the manufacturing branch rule under IRC Section 954(d)(2), treating Luxembourg's sales income as foreign base company sales income taxable to the US parent. The US Tax Court upheld the IRS assessment in 2020, ruling the arrangement could not circumvent CFC subpart F income rules through branch structuring ... Read more

A Dutch zinc smelter transferred part of its business to a Swiss group company in 2010. The Dutch tax authority challenged whether the transfer payment and subsequent cost-plus remuneration were arm's length. After earlier lower court proceedings, the parties reached a settlement before the Netherlands Court of Appeal in 2020, agreeing that the profit split method was the appropriate transfer pricing method for the restructured Dutch entity ... Read more

BHP Billiton Ltd, an Australian resident taxpayer in a dual-listed company arrangement, disputed whether commodity sales income derived by its Swiss trading hub from entities controlled by its DLC partner constituted tainted sales income under Australia's CFC provisions. The Australian High Court ruled in favour of the tax authority in 2020, finding the relevant entities were associates and the disputed income was taxable in Australia ... Read more

Two Swiss investors routed private equity fund management through a Jersey entity, retaining all advisory functions in their Swiss AG while allocating only one-third of fees offshore. The Swiss tax authority challenged the arrangement, arguing the Jersey entity lacked substance and the Swiss investors controlled all key risks. The Zurich Administrative Court ruled in favour of the tax authority in February 2020, recharacterising the income attribution based on substance over form ... Read more

A Ukrainian mineral fertilizer producer faced transfer pricing challenges on export sales to a related party in Switzerland and natural gas imports from a related party in Cyprus. The tax authority assessed additional corporate income tax of UAH 43 million and reduced loss carryforwards by UAH 195 million. Ukraine's Supreme Administrative Court upheld the assessment in 2019, confirming that delivery conditions and exchange rate differences must be considered in comparability analysis ... Read more

Nestlé del Uruguay S.A. deducted royalty payments of 2–5% of sales to its Swiss parent for the use of local brands originally developed by the Uruguayan entity and transferred to Switzerland for USD 1 in 1999. The tax authority challenged the deductions as not arm's length. Uruguay's Tribunal de lo Contencioso Administrativo upheld the authority's position in 2019, ruling that royalties for self-developed trademarks were not justified ... Read more

A Swiss corporation challenged a Dutch tax authority information request as disproportionate, arguing that demands for decision-making documents and email files exceeded the inspector's powers under Article 47 of the AWR. The Rechtbank Noord-Nederland ruled in favour of the tax authority in November 2019, finding the broad request justified given the need to assess whether the Swiss corporation had effective management or a permanent establishment in the Netherlands ... Read more

PJSC Uralkali, a Russian potash producer, sold fertilizers through a related Swiss trading hub and applied TNMM to price the controlled transaction. Russian tax authorities rejected TNMM, applied the CUP method using Argus price quotations, and issued an assessment. Russia's Supreme Court Review Panel upheld the Court of Appeal's finding that TNMM was misapplied and that CUP was the more appropriate method for commodity transactions ... Read more

A loss-making Danish subsidiary of Adecco SA paid royalties to its Swiss parent for trademarks, know-how, and network intangibles. The Danish tax authority disallowed DKK 82 million in deductions for 2006–2009, arguing no independent party would have agreed to such payments given the subsidiary's persistent losses. Denmark's Court of Appeal upheld the tax authority's position in October 2019, confirming the royalties failed the arm's length benefit test ... Read more

A Luxembourg holding company received dividends from a Spanish subsidiary but the beneficial owner was resident in Switzerland. Spain's TEAC ruled in 2019 that withholding tax was correctly applied, finding that the beneficial owner requirement in Article 14.1.h) of the TRLIRNR was a valid transposition of the Parent-Subsidiary Directive and fully compatible with EU law, following the CJEU judgment of 26 February 2019 in Cases C-116/16 and C-117/16 ... Read more

The Kering group – owner of Gucci, Bottega Veneta, Saint Laurent and Pomellato –  has settled a case with the Italian tax agency for an amount of euro 1.250 billion in taxes and penalties relating to fiscal years 2011-2017. The case was started by the Italian tax police in 2017 and resulted in a recommendation to charge the president and chief executive officer of the Italian company Guccio Gucci S.p.A. with the crimes of tax evasion and failure to file Italian income tax return. Guccio Gucci S.p.A., the Italian operating company of the group and owner of the GUCCI brand, had licensed the brand to a Swiss affiliate company, Luxury Goods International S.A., together with the rights to exploit and manage the brand for the purpose of the global marketing, commercialization and sale of GUCCI products in Italy and worldwide. However, most of the marketing activities for the distribution and sale of the GUCCI products actually took place at the ... Read more

An Italian subsidiary paid its Swiss parent royalties of 3.5% plus 1.6% for trademark use and brand promotion. The Italian tax authority challenged the rate as exceeding the normal value under Circular 32/1980, capping the deductible royalty at 2%. The Corte di Cassazione upheld the reassessment in 2019, confirming the appellate court correctly applied the three-tier royalty framework and found no justification for the higher rate ... Read more

PJSC Uralkali sold potassium chloride through a related Swiss trading entity and justified pricing using TNMM with the trader as tested party. The Russian tax authorities rejected this approach, applying CUP based on Argus commodity price quotations instead. The Court of Appeal reversed the first instance ruling in favour of the taxpayer, finding TNMM had been misapplied to obtain unjustified tax benefits and confirming CUP as the more appropriate method ... Read more

A Mexican alcoholic beverages distributor claimed deductions for marketing and advertising costs under a non-exclusive trademark licence with a related party relocated to Switzerland. The Mexican tax authority denied the deductions as not strictly indispensable under the Income Tax Law. The Federal Court of Administrative Justice upheld the authority's position in April 2019, ruling the advertising expenses were not directly necessary to the distributor's core commercial activity ... Read more

A Ukrainian producer of mineral fertilizers sold exports to a related Swiss trading company below arm's length prices and imported natural gas via a Cyprus entity above arm's length prices. The tax authority issued a corporate income tax assessment of 43 million UAH. The Administrative Court of Appeal ruled in favour of the tax authority in 2019, upholding the transfer pricing adjustments on both commodity transactions ... Read more

The European Commission investigated whether Luxembourg granted illegal State aid to McDonald's by exempting income attributed to a US branch under the Luxembourg–US double taxation treaty. In December 2018, the Commission concluded that Luxembourg had not misapplied the treaty and therefore no selective advantage had been conferred, finding no illegal State aid in the contested tax rulings ... Read more