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IRS Reorganizes Transfer Pricing Programs

By Alistair M. Nevius, J.D.

Please note: This item is from our archives and was published in 2012. It is provided for historical reference. The content may be out of date and links may no longer function.

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From the IRS

The IRS has reorganized its advance pricing agreement (APA), mutual agreement, and competent authority programs into one new program (IR-2012-38). All three programs dealt with transfer pricing rules, which determine how international transactions within a multinational company must be priced to ensure each country receives its fair share of tax.

Before Feb. 26, 2012, the APA program, which handled transfer pricing agreements, was in a separate IRS division from the mutual agreement and competent authority programs. The mutual agreement program dealt with transfer pricing agreements between taxpayers and the United States and other governments. The APA program and the competent authority functions (including the mutual agreement procedures and determinations of permanent establishment status) that relate to transfer pricing and other similar issues are now combined into a new Advance Pricing and Mutual Agreement (APMA) program. Responsibility for competent authority requests that do not involve allocation issues is handled by the IRS’s Large Business & International Treaty Assistance and Interpretation team.

To implement this realignment, the IRS intends to revise its existing procedures for requesting APAs and competent authority assistance. Until then, the Service says, taxpayers can rely on Rev. Proc. 2006-9 (Allocation of Income and Deductions Among Taxpayers), as modified by Rev. Proc. 2008-31, and Rev. Proc. 2006-54 (Procedures for Requesting Competent Authority Assistance Under Tax Treaties), with the following changes:

  • References to APA refer to APMA;
  • The user fee in Rev. Proc. 2006-54 is $27,500 (instead of $15,000) for requests received after Feb. 4, 2012; and
  • Taxpayers should send requests to this address:

Deputy Commissioner (International)
Large Business and International Division
Internal Revenue Service
1111 Constitution Avenue, N.W.
Routing: MA2-209
Washington, DC 20224
Attention: Katina Cooper