Worldwide transfer pricing reference guide 2014

Greece
Taxing authority and tax law
Taxing authority: General Secretary of Public Revenues.
Tax law:
• The recently adopted L.4172/2013 income tax code and the new Tax Procedures Code incorporated in L.4174/2013, which
introduced extensive amendments in Greek transfer pricing legislation applicable as of 1 January 2014
• Double taxation treaties
• Supranational norms
Relevant regulations and rulings
• Ministerial Decision 1179/2013 issued by the Ministry of Finance providing details on the content of the Transfer Pricing File and
Summary Information Table (SIT), for intercompany transactions referring to fiscal years starting on or after 1 January 2012
• Ruling 1220/2013 of the Ministry of Finance clarifying that for intercompany loan agreements a documentation requirement is needed
for accrued interest exceeding EUR20,000, for fiscal years starting on or after 1 January 2012, and the threshold is in line with the
minimum transaction value threshold, triggering documentation obligation, as set in the current tax law, which applies from
December 2013
• Decision 1284/2013 of the General Secretary of Public Revenues, determining, the procedures for the conclusion, amendment,
revocation and annulment of an APA. The decision refers to the procedures of both unilateral and bilateral APAs for cross-border
intercompany transactions that take place in financial years starting 1 January 2014 onward
• A Ministerial Decision mentioned in the new Tax Procedures Code, which will stipulate the adequate content of the Masterfile, Local
File (Greek File) and SIT as well as the acceptable transfer pricing method and details regarding exceptions from transfer pricing
documentation requirements, is still pending
OECD Guidelines treatment
The aforementioned legislative framework confirms the application of the OECD Guidelines.
Priorities/pricing methods
Under current legislative framework, the tax authorities follow the OECD Guidelines. All three of the traditional transactional methods
(CUP, Resale Price and Cost Plus) can be applied, while the use of profit-based methods is possible where substantiated. In particular,
profit-based transfer pricing methods such as the TNMM and the Transactional Profit Split method can be used only in cases where
the use of the above traditional transfer pricing methods is considered ineffective, provided that a detailed justification is included in
the documentation files. The expected Ministerial Decision to be issued on the basis of the New Tax Procedures Code will redefine the
methods as well as the hierarchy thereof. However, considering the income tax provision which makes reference to the application of the
OECD Guidelines it is expected that the Ministerial Decision, in order to be in line with the law, should adopt the OECD methods and its
best method approach.
Transfer pricing penalties
• For fiscal years ending 31 December 2012 and after, late filing of the SIT or of the transfer pricing documentation file upon the tax
auditors’ request, incurs a fine amounting to 0.1% on the gross income of the company, which cannot be lower than EUR1, 000 or higher
than EUR10,000, whereas non-filing of the above incurs a penalty of 1% on the gross income of the company, which cannot be lower
than EUR10,000 or higher than EUR100,000
• For fiscal years starting 31 August 2013 and after, late filing of the SIT or of the transfer pricing documentation file upon the tax
auditors’ request or for inadequate/inaccurate documentation, incurs a fine amounting to 0.1% on the gross income of the company,
which cannot be lower than EUR1,000 or higher than EUR10,000, whereas non-filing of the SIT or the transfer pricing documentation
file incurs a penalty of 1% on the gross income of the company, which cannot be lower than EUR10,000 or higher than EUR100,000.
The same penalty applies for inadequate/inaccurate content of the SIT for fiscal years starting 1 January 2014 and after
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