India debates changing course on APAs

The Indian government is rumoured to have changed tack on its structuring of the upcoming advance pricing arrangement (APA) programme. Taxpayers expected a unilateral APA to be incorporated into the Direct Taxes Code in 2012 but officials could be bending to arguments from lobbyists that this way of establishing certainty about transfer pricing would be arbitrary. Sophie Ashley takes a fresh look at the APA process and considers the pros and cons to unilateral and bilateral APAs.