Volume 8 No 5    /    Read Article

By Michael Peggs

Two transfer pricing cases, Commissioner of Taxation of the Commonwealth of Australia v. Glencore Investment Pty Ltd. in Australia and Cameco Corporation v. Her Majesty The Queen in Canada, address arm’s length transfer pricing methodology for mined minerals during a period of steep increases in spot prices. In each case, the revenue authority challenged the taxpayer’s revision of pricing from the use of fixed prices to adjusted prices that were comparable in methodology to contemporaneous uncontrolled transactions. Each case was decided in favor of the taxpayer. Michael Peggs explains the reasons why the approaches of the tax authorities were rejected. He cautions that the precedential value of the cases may be limited in light of changes made in the 2017 version of the O.E.C.D. Guidelines. One ongoing takeaway from the two cases is that, to settle a transfer pricing dispute, a large multinational company must be prepared to make significant investments in data gathering, executive, time, and cost of litigation.  See more →