Deloitte experts release 'Transfer Pricing in the Middle East' guide

01 July 2021 Consultancy-me.com

Experts from Deloitte’s Transfer Pricing practice in the Middle East have teamed up with LexisNexis to launch what is billed as “the definitive reference for transfer pricing in the Gulf and Levant jurisdictions.”

Titled ‘Transfer Pricing in the Middle East’, the new book comes at a time of major change for tax and transfer pricing professionals in the region. “The world of tax is seeing unprecedented changes, and in its slipstream significant developments are unfolding in the regional transfer pricing landscape,” said the authors.

Transfer pricing is a common accounting technique worldwide where different parts of the same company charge each other for the exchange of goods and services. Specifically in the Middle East, a number of countries in the region have introduced transfer pricing legislation in the last years, which has increased the complexity of tax compliance for businesses headquartered in the region.

With their book, Deloitte’s experts – which includes transfer pricing specialists such as Directors Rabia Gandapur and Danial Khalid, and tax country leaders from several jurisdictions covered in the region – aim to provide an “easy to use reference to transfer pricing provisions across the Middle East” bringing together both theory and practical considerations “in one useful format.”

According to publisher LexisNexis (one of the world’s largest legal and tax information providers), this book is “the first of its kind in the Middle East region. It includes legislation and guidance from local tax administrations and practical commentary from the authors on key jurisdictional transfer pricing challenges facing multinational enterprises and tax administrations.”

The book is deemed relevant for, among others, global multinationals operating in the Middle East, global tax administrations who are involved in mutual agreement procedure discussions with the Middle East jurisdictions, local tax authorities who are undertake risk assessments and transfer pricing audits, local organisations that have to deal with transfer pricing regulations for the first time, and individuals including tax, transfer pricing and compliance professionals.

Insights outlined in ‘Transfer Pricing in the Middle East’ include:

The degree to which international standards have been adopted by that jurisdiction;
The application of the regulations in the jurisdiction including any important exemptions or carve outs;
The definition of association/control when observing what the “group” is with respect to arm’s length pricing of intra-group transactions;
The definition of provision/transaction including practical experiences of how the local tax administration view certain types of provision/transaction;
The degree of consistency with the OECD guidelines;
Important departures from the OECD guidelines;
The Transfer Pricing audit process including practical experience;
The availability of rulings and/or advance pricing agreements including practical experience;
Key dates, deadlines, and forms relating to transfer pricing compliance in the jurisdiction; and
Key challenges that are unique to the jurisdiction based on international experience and experience with the local jurisdiction.