The OECD invited comments on 6 June 2012 from interested parties on its Discussion Draft on Transfer Pricing Comparability Data and Developing Countries for proposed revisions to Chapter VI of the Transfer Pricing Guidelines. The OECD published the comments received on 28 October 2014 and they are available on its website.
The OECD received more than twenty responses to the Discussion Draft from business, accounting firms and professional organizations. These responses and the issues raised will be discussed by Working Party No. 6 of the OECD’s Committee on Fiscal Affairs at its November 2012 meeting and at a Public Consultation to be held in Paris on 12 to 14 November 2012.
The Discussion Draft issued earlier in the year sets out some possible approaches to addressing the concerns over the lack of data on comparable that have been expressed by developing countries. These include the following possibilities:
- Expanding access to data sources for comparable transactions;
- More effective use of data sources for comparables, including guidance or assistance in the effective use of commercial databases, the selection of foreign comparables and alternative approaches to finding comparables.
- Approaches to identifying arm’s length prices or results without reliance on direct comparables.
- Guidance or assistance in making use of proxies for arm’s length outcomes, including use of the profit split method, value chain analysis, and safe harbors, and an evaluation of the impact, effectiveness and compatibility with the arm’s length principle of approaches such as the “sixth method.”
- Advance pricing agreements and mutual agreement proceedings, including a review of developing country experiences with the pros and cons of advance pricing agreements and negotiations to resolve transfer pricing disputes.
