人尽皆知地, as hindsight is 20/20, this is an auspicious year to keep ahead of the Simplified 转让定价 Record-Keeping options (the STPRK选项) outlined in the ATO’s Practical Compliance Guideline 2017/2 (PCG 2017/2).
The STPRK选项 are a safeguard offered to eligible entities – not against the application of transfer pricing rules – but against any audit or review from the ATO of the transfer pricing documentation kept.
On 11 September 2019, the ATO amended the required interest rates for the 2020 income year under the PCG 2017/2 eligibility criteria for the STPRK选项. Together with these new required rates, the following should be remembered for Australian economic groups providing inbound and/or outbound loans within the group.
The STPRK选项 are available for related party cross-border loans where:
- the combined cross-border loan balance for the group is 澳元 50 million or less;
- the loan agreement specifies the currency of the loan to be 澳元 (i.e. the currency exchange risk is not borne by Australia) and the associated expenses (e.g. borrowing costs) are paid in 澳元; and
- the Australian entity has seen profit in the current or one of the previous 2 years;
- 一直以来 没有调整 during the past year;
- the entity has assessed compliance with the transfer pricing rules; and
- the interest rate of each loan for each of the income years that the loan is in effect is:
- For low-level inbound loans (i.e. Australia borrows) 不超过2个.33% (3.76% in 2019); or
- For low-level outbound loans (i.e. 澳门赌场官网借) 不少于2个.33% (3.76% in 2019).
If any of the above points is not met, your entity is exposed to audits and/or reviews by the ATO on your transfer pricing records. 到目前为止, 转让定价 Manuals are the only recognised way to appropriately keep records for transfer pricing purposes. These need to be prepared before the lodgment of the relevant Income 税 Return.
Accru Felsers are uniquely specialised in dealing with advice on 转让定价 and the drafting of 转让定价 Manuals for private groups. If you have any questions, or require help in this area, please contact 格伦达尼克松 or 玛吉常, our transfer pricing specialists.
