Another time limit that must be considered is the three-year time limit within which a taxpayer must invoke the mutual agreement procedure under Article 25 of the OECD Model Tax Convention. The three-year period begins to run from the first notification of the action resulting in taxation not in accordance with the provisions of the Convention, which can be the time when the tax administration first notifies the taxpayer of the proposed adjustment, described as the “adjustment action” or “act of taxation”, or an earlier date as discussed at paragraphs 21-24 of the Commentary on Article 25. Although some countries consider three years too short a period for invoking the procedure, other countries consider it too long and have entered reservations on this point. The Commentary on Article 25 indicates that the time limit “must be regarded as a minimum so that Contracting States are left free to agree in their bilateral conventions upon a longer period in the interests of taxpayers”. In this regard, it should be noted that element 1.1 of the Action 14 minimum standard includes a recommendation that countries include in their tax treaties paragraphs 1 through 3 of Article 25, as interpreted in the Commentary.
TPG2022 Chapter IV paragraph 4.52
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By OECD
Category: OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines (2022), TPG2022 Chapter IV: Administrative Dispute Resolution | Tag: Corresponding adjustment, Mutual Agreement Procedure (MAP), Request MAP, Three-year time limit, Time limits
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