Dear Clients,
On 1 August 2016 the Transfer Pricing Documentation Law was published in Austria.
It applies to fiscal years starting on or after 1 January 2016.
This law requires multinational companies, depending on their size, to prepare certain documents and files and to send them to the tax office.
Documentation obligation
- Multinational companies must prepare a Country-by-Country report (“länderbezogener Bericht”) containing information on the worldwide distribution of its revenue, taxes, etc.) if the consolidated group turnover amounted to at least EUR 750 million in the previous fiscal year.
- An Austrian subsidiary of a multinational company must prepare a “Master File” (transfer pricing documentation) and a “Local File” (specific information on business transactions in the Austrian company) if turnover exceeded EUR 50 million in each of the two previous fiscal years.
Fiscal Penal Law
The Fiscal Penal Law in Austria specifies that a penalty of up to EUR 50,000 can be issued in the case of improper communication of the reports.
Transfer Pricing Guidelines 2010
For all Austrian companies affiliated to a company that is resident abroad – even if they are smaller than the aforementioned size criteria, the prices determined between the companies must be calculated according to the arm’s length principle and also documented (in writing). Both the Austrian transfer pricing guidelines and the transfer pricing guidelines recommended by the OECD serve as the legal basis here.
Please note that (written) transfer pricing documentation must also be prepared by small Austrian subsidiaries or branch offices for the purpose of audits. The difference compared to the procedure for large corporations is that small companies do not have to send their transfer pricing documentation to the tax office in advance.
Please contact us if any questions arise.
Best regards
Manfred Gross
Vienna, September 2016
