Worldwide transfer pricing reference guide 2014

Ireland (continued)
Documentation requirements (continued)
The documentation is required to contain the following:
• The associated persons that are party to the transaction
• The nature and terms of the transaction
• The terms of relevant transactions with both third parties and associates
• The method or methods, by which the pricing of the transactions were derived, including any comparability analysis and any functional
analysis undertaken
• The application of the transfer pricing method
• Any budgets, forecasts or other relevant papers relied on in arriving at an arm’s length result
This documentation should be reviewed at regular intervals to determine whether the pricing remains at arm’s length. The IRC has
stated that they will be guided by Chapter V of the OECD Guidelines and by EU transfer pricing documentation guidance in applying the
documentation requirement.
Documentation deadlines
Documentation must be available for in-scope transactions for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2011. While there is
no statutory deadline with respect to documentation, a separate guidance note issued by IRC states that it is considered best practice
that some transfer pricing analysis is prepared at the time the terms of the transaction are agreed, and that for a company to be in a
position to make a correct and complete return, transfer pricing documentation should exist at the time of filing the tax return. The tax
return is due nine months after the end of an accounting period.
The documentation requirements do not apply to a transaction, the terms of which were agreed before 1 July 2010, if:
• The terms of the agreement clearly envisage the transaction
• Application of these terms delivers the price of the transaction
• An agreement to enter into a further agreement would not meet these conditions
However, intercompany arrangements that were agreed prior to 1 July 2010 and that are renegotiated and re-signed after 1 July 2010
are within the scope of the regulations.
Statute of limitations on transfer pricing assessments
The statute of limitations is currently four years after the end of the tax year or the accounting period in which the return is made.
Return disclosures/related party disclosures
There are currently no requirements on return disclosures or related party disclosures.
Transfer pricing-specific returns
Not applicable.
Frequency of tax audit and transfer pricing scrutiny by the tax authority
Compliance with the transfer pricing regulations will be subject to audit. The new provisions delegate transfer pricing auditing to officers
authorized for that purpose by the IRC. This ensures that the audits concerned will be undertaken by officers who appreciate and are
equipped to deal with the complexities involved in applying the arm’s length principle.
The IRC released further guidance on 26 November 2012, setting out its proposed approach to monitoring compliance with the Irish
regulations.
The guidance released as ‘‘Revenue eBrief 62/2012’’ introduced a new procedure referred to as the Transfer Pricing Compliance Review
(TPCR), which is a self-review, carried out by a company/group determining its compliance with the Irish regulations. A selection of
Worldwide transfer pricing reference guide
150