Transfer pricing is single key tax issue for banks and industry

International Tax Review is part of Legal Benchmarking Limited, 1-2 Paris Garden, London, SE1 8ND

Copyright © Legal Benchmarking Limited and its affiliated companies 2026

Accessibility | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Modern Slavery Statement

Transfer pricing is single key tax issue for banks and industry

asurv.jpg

Two TP Week surveys reveal critical importance of transfer pricing to tax directors in major industrial sectors

Initial findings of two transfer pricing surveys by TP Week show transfer pricing as the key tax issue for tax directors across industry worldwide. They will be the forerunners of a series of market surveys which we intend to conduct over the next few months.

In the first we have contacted tax directors and transfer pricing directors in 100 major financial institutions in all major markets. We have asked them to identify the key issues for transfer pricing specialists in the banking and financial services sectors. We are seeking to identify the major transfer pricing issues for transfer pricing and tax leaders

Our initial findings point to transfer pricing emerging as the single most critical tax for international banks. Bankers told TP Week that it is progressively assuming greater importance.

All of our respondents so far have point to the attitude of revenue authorities being increasingly combative. All respondents are guaranteed anonymity but one bank – a household name across the world – said: The tax authorities in Asia becoming ruder and more aggressive. We find the ones in Japan and Korea to be the worst.”

Our second and larger survey is conducted among 500 tax and transfer pricing directors in a mix of industry sectors exclusive of financial services but drawn from many jurisdictions around the world.

This again pointed to transfer pricing achieving greater impact on their workloads. Many talked about the pressures of contemporaneous documentation regulation, transfer pricing audits, unsympathetic revenue authorities and cost sharing approaches.

Both surveys are still running – until the end of February. If you are included in the sample groups for either survey please email to tpweek@euromoneyplc.com



more across site & shared bottom lb ros

More from across our site

The firm has hired a team of private client lawyers from Withers to launch in New York and Connecticut, though ITR analysis suggests it faces stiff competition
The ability of tax authorities to receive and analyse data is becoming ‘quite advanced’, warns Stuart Lang, head of EY’s compliance co-sourcing solution
The Court of Appeal ruling clarifies that treaty benefits are not abusive where transactions are commercially driven, providing greater certainty on “main purpose” anti-avoidance tests
Despite the Netherlands featuring an unusual concentration of World Tax-ranked technology-led providers, sources believe there’s a long way to go to challenge the established players
Ethics seems to be playing a subservient role to an entitlement culture borne out of a pervasive ‘revenue at all costs’ mentality at the big four
Historical World Tax data suggests the ‘largest law firm merger in history’ may not pose a serious threat to the world's leading tax practices
The repeal of Libya’s statute of limitations and tougher enforcement leave taxpayers navigating a high-stakes choice between conciliation and litigation
All the tax partners elevated across the UK, US and Singapore were private client specialists, continuing a market trend of intense investment and competition
Rolf van de Velde, dubbed ‘an expert chosen by experts’, is tasked with scaling Reptune’s self-service compliance offering
The newly combined firm brings together more than 3,500 practitioners across 52 offices, with flagship hubs in Seattle, London, Sydney and New York.
Gift this article