Advance pricing arrangement program 2010-11update

Introduction

This update provides an analysis of the cases completed as part of the Advance Pricing Arrangement (APA) Program for the financial year ended 30 June 2011.

APAs continue to be an important part of our international tax strategy because they:

• provide complementary benefits to both taxpayers and us
• create greater certainty for all parties
• reduce compliance costs
• reduce the risk of audit and penalty.

Using APAs is part of our balanced program of help and enforcement. As recommended by an independent review of the program, we will continue to promote and use APAs to help in gaining cooperative tax compliance.

You can download a printable version of Advance pricing arrangement program 2010-11 update (NAT 73225, 498 KB) in Portable Document Format (PDF).

What is an APA?

An APA lets companies that are members of a multinational group reach an agreement with us on how to apply the arm's length principle in their future dealings with international related parties. The arrangement:

• establishes the transfer pricing method they must use for transactions covered by the APA
• generally covers three to five years
• may be reviewed if their trading circumstances change.

The APA can be:

• multilateral - between us, the taxpayer and more than one foreign tax authority
• bilateral - between us, the taxpayer and one foreign tax authority
• unilateral - between us and the taxpayer.

APAs are free of charge.

APAs usually begin with pre-lodgment meetings upon submission of an APA proposal, followed by a formal application once the scope is agreed. Taxpayers can lodge their applications electronically if they want to.

Bilateral and multilateral APAs are entered into under the mutual agreement procedure article of the relevant double tax agreement. Unilateral APAs are entered into under our administration of the income tax law.

Bilateral and multilateral APAs are called 'MAP APAs' by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) when they are conducted under the Mutual Agreement Procedure (MAP) of a tax treaty.