South Africa’s first Transfer Pricing case, and it’s a win for the taxpayer!
Before we get into the article we would like to add that Prof Dr Daniel N Erasmus and the TRM team represented the taxpayer in this matter. Dr Erasmus discusses the intricacies of Transfer PricingTransfer pricing is a fundamental concept in international taxation that defines the pricing methods and rules applied to transactions between related entities within a multinational enterprise (MNE). In the context of tax regulations, it governs how prices for goods, services, or intangibles (such as intellectual property) are set when these items are exchanged between different branches, subsidiaries, or affiliates of... trials in his upcoming book: “CONDUCTING A TP TRIAL“.
THIS ARTICLE WAS FIRST PUBLISHED BY REGAN VAN ROOY
Can we hear a “woohoo”!? Yes, you read right, South Africa has finally had its first TP case and whaddaya know, the taxpayer won! In this case, the taxpayer, referred to very creatively as ABD, appealed against an increased assessment imposed on it by the South African Revenue ServiceThe South African Revenue Service (SARS) is the official tax authority responsible for the administration and enforcement of tax laws in South Africa. It plays a crucial role in managing the country’s fiscal policy by collecting revenue, administering customs, and ensuring compliance with tax legislation. Established under the South African Revenue Service Act, No. 34 of 1997, SARS functions independently... (SARSThe South African Revenue Service (SARS) is the official tax authority responsible for the administration and enforcement of tax laws in South Africa. It plays a crucial role in managing the country’s fiscal policy by collecting revenue, administering customs, and ensuring compliance with tax legislation. Established under the South African Revenue Service Act, No. 34 of 1997, SARS functions independently...). ABD is a South African telecommunications company with subsidiaries worldwide, to which it licences certain intellectual property (“IP”) in return for a royalty. And of course the pricing of this royalty was the issue at stake.
What is an arm’s length royalty?
Well that’s the million dollar question, and everybody agreed the arm’s length principleThe Arm’s Length Principle (ALP) is a cornerstone concept in international taxation and transfer pricing. It requires that transactions between related parties, such as subsidiaries or affiliates within a multinational enterprise (MNE), mirror those that would occur between independent entities under similar circumstances. This principle ensures that each entity within an MNE is compensated fairly and transparently, based on the... is the fundamental concept governing the valuation of intellectual property (IP) for TP purposes, everyone also seemed to agree that the OECDThe Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is an international organisation comprising 38 member countries, established to foster economic growth, trade, and development on a global scale. Founded in 1961, the OECD provides a forum for governments to collaborate, share policy experiences, and develop solutions to common economic challenges. The OECD's core mission is to promote policies that improve... Guidelines is the key playbook to follow. IP is of course just intangible i.e. non-physical assets, the value of which can be derived from their potential to generate revenue. What IP was being paid for was contested back and forth, but drilled down to brand-related IP, including trademarks but not goodwill. Defining IP is super complex, and requires a lot of specialist analysis, so there were some meaty discussions by some meaty folks throughout the case.
Basically, ABD charged all of the Opcos an identical royalty rate of 1% and SARSThe South African Revenue Service (SARS) is the official tax authority responsible for the administration and enforcement of tax laws in South Africa. It plays a crucial role in managing the country’s fiscal policy by collecting revenue, administering customs, and ensuring compliance with tax legislation. Established under the South African Revenue Service Act, No. 34 of 1997, SARS functions independently... was not happy with this and argued it was not arms-length.
Let’s talk pie
ABD’s counsel decided to paint the picture using a comparison of a pie. Their counsel said the first determination is about the size of the pie and the second is about how to divide the pie. One flavour of the pie that SARSThe South African Revenue Service (SARS) is the official tax authority responsible for the administration and enforcement of tax laws in South Africa. It plays a crucial role in managing the country’s fiscal policy by collecting revenue, administering customs, and ensuring compliance with tax legislation. Established under the South African Revenue Service Act, No. 34 of 1997, SARS functions independently... and ABD agreed on, is that the arm’s length principleThe Arm’s Length Principle (ALP) is a cornerstone concept in international taxation and transfer pricing. It requires that transactions between related parties, such as subsidiaries or affiliates within a multinational enterprise (MNE), mirror those that would occur between independent entities under similar circumstances. This principle ensures that each entity within an MNE is compensated fairly and transparently, based on the... should be applied in determining the royalty i.e. what would it be if it was between two independent enterprises as opposed to a company taxed in one jurisdiction and its subsidiary taxed in another. So farFunctional analysis is the cornerstone of transfer pricing and international tax compliance, ensuring that intercompany transactions adhere to the arm’s length principle. It evaluates the roles, contributions, and risk profiles of entities within a multinational enterprise (MNE) to determine how profits and costs should be allocated. This process ensures that related-party transactions reflect the pricing that independent enterprises would establish..., so obvious but then things got a bit spicier.
SARSThe South African Revenue Service (SARS) is the official tax authority responsible for the administration and enforcement of tax laws in South Africa. It plays a crucial role in managing the country’s fiscal policy by collecting revenue, administering customs, and ensuring compliance with tax legislation. Established under the South African Revenue Service Act, No. 34 of 1997, SARS functions independently... went through a rigorous process to contest the 1%, and relied on many expert opinions, including an economist charmingly called Dr (Clean) Slate. But even SARS’ experts differed over how to calculate both the size and division of the pie. SARSThe South African Revenue Service (SARS) is the official tax authority responsible for the administration and enforcement of tax laws in South Africa. It plays a crucial role in managing the country’s fiscal policy by collecting revenue, administering customs, and ensuring compliance with tax legislation. Established under the South African Revenue Service Act, No. 34 of 1997, SARS functions independently... settled on their economist’s approach, which surprise surprise supported a much larger share in the pie for the tax-man. This “flip- flop” approach by SARSThe South African Revenue Service (SARS) is the official tax authority responsible for the administration and enforcement of tax laws in South Africa. It plays a crucial role in managing the country’s fiscal policy by collecting revenue, administering customs, and ensuring compliance with tax legislation. Established under the South African Revenue Service Act, No. 34 of 1997, SARS functions independently... does not seem to have been considered favourably.
So SARSThe South African Revenue Service (SARS) is the official tax authority responsible for the administration and enforcement of tax laws in South Africa. It plays a crucial role in managing the country’s fiscal policy by collecting revenue, administering customs, and ensuring compliance with tax legislation. Established under the South African Revenue Service Act, No. 34 of 1997, SARS functions independently..., advised by Dr Slate, contended that ABD should have charged a variable royalty rate depending on the country and the year it was earned. The fluctuations created by adopting this approach are considerable. And we all thought tax authorities were adverse to varying royalty rates! Although maybe that´s just if the SA tax-payer is paying rather than receiving royalties…
ABD disagreed with Dr. Slate’s calculation of the pie’s size but agreed with his division of it.
