Depending on the facts and circumstances of the case, actual costs, as well as standard or budgeted costs, may be appropriate to use as the cost base. Using actual costs may raise an issue because the tested party may have no incentive to carefully monitor the costs. In arrangements between independent parties, it is not rare that a cost savings objective is factored into the remuneration method. It can also happen in manufacturing arrangements between independent parties that prices are set on the basis of standard costs, and that any decrease or increase in actual costs compared to standard costs is attributed to the manufacturer. Where they reflect the arrangements that would be taken between independent parties, similar mechanisms could be taken into account in the application of the cost-based transactional net margin method. See paragraph 2.58 for a discussion of the same issue in relation to the cost plus method.
TPG2022 Chapter II paragraph 2.101
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By OECD
Category: OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines (2022), TPG 2022 Chapter II: Transfer Pricing Methods | Tag: Budgeted costs or actual costs, Cost savings objective factored into remuneration, Net Profit Indicator/Profit Level Indicator (PLI), Transactional net margin method (TNMM), Transactional profit methods, Transfer pricing methods
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Supplemental Guidance
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