New Circular on the Application of the Arm’s Length Principle Issued by the Federal Ministry of Finance – Commitment to OECD Guidelines

Abstract

Germany has published a new circular on transfer pricing that is binding for tax authorities and helps taxpayers with the interpretation of the arm’s length principle. It deals with plenty of relevant topics for day-to-day work such as financial transactions, the DEMPE concept, services transactions and loss-making enterprises. Attached to the circular are the OECD Guidelines, which are becoming binding for tax authorities in Germany. The new circular is applicable to all open years including years that are currently under audit.