Transfer pricing, Customs Duties and VAT Rules: Can We Bridge the Gap?

While the importance of transfer pricing is increasingly appreciated, the focus has traditionally been on direct taxation and transfer pricing still largely remains a subject for tax specialists. In the past decade, however, it has become obvious that the customs duties and, more recently, the VAT (value added tax) dimensions of transfer pricing can also take quite a toll on a company’s profits and on government revenues, and they are now increasingly attracting the attention of governments and businesses. "Valuation of Related Party Transactions for Transfer Pricing, Customs and VAT purposes" was the subject of two major conferences jointly organised by the World Customs Organisation (WCO) and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in May 2006 and May 2007 (please refer to this news item). The attached article by Liu Ping, World Customs Organisation, and Caroline Silberztein, OECD Centre for Tax Policy and Administration, was published in World Commerce Review (Volume 1, Issue 1, © 2007).