On 26 April 2024, the Irish Revenue published eBrief No. 127/24 outlining the updated Tax and Duty Manual Part 35-02-07 Bilateral Advance Pricing Agreement Guidelines. The updated Guidelines take into account international best practices in relation to bilateral Advance Pricing Agreements (APA) as identified by the OECD.

The main changes are as follows:

  • Including prospective years in an APA term in situations where most of the years proposed to be covered by an APA have passed by the time an agreement is reached between the competent authorities (Part 3.3).
  • Position to be adopted by a taxpayer in corporation tax returns filed in the period from when an APA application is submitted to Revenue until the APA is concluded (Part 4).
  • Electronic submission of APA applications (Part 4.2 and Part 8).
  • Timeframe for Revenue to make a decision in relation to the acceptance of an APA application into the APA programme (Part 4.2).
  • Annual reporting requirements (Part 4.5).
  • Timeframe for a taxpayer to notify Revenue in situations where it ceases to apply the terms of an APA (Part 4.5).
  • Amendment by a taxpayer, where necessary, of previously filed tax returns following the revision, revocation or cancellation of an APA (Part 5).
  • Relationship between transfer pricing audit and the APA process (Part 6).