In Germany the taxpayer is under a duty to disclose all relevant facts to the tax authorities in the course of the normal processes of assessing the tax due and then auditing the accounting records on which it is based. This duty is enhanced where foreign aspects come into play. Thus the taxpayer is required to gather the necessary details up front, rather than being allowed to wait until after the event. Nowhere is this more apparent – or acute – than in the field of transfer pricing. Latterly, the situation has grown in sensitivity with the inappropriately named "Profit Recording Order" setting out the transfer pricing documentation requirements in considerable detail, and with the finance ministry decree on the procedures to be followed in connection with transfer pricing reviews and negotiation with foreign taxing authorities.
November 01 2007