Risk-oriented approach in tax administration of transfer pricing in Russia

The protection of the sovereign tax base and determination of the “fair share of profit” that should be attributed to a particular jurisdiction remains one of the topical issues in Russia and worldwide. The instruments for determining fair profit include the mechanism of transfer pricing designated for calculating company profit of (member of corporate group) based on an analysis of the actual economic circumstances of making a transaction, i.e. the assets, functions and risks of the parties to the controlled transaction (leaning on the modeling of market prices using the methods of transfer pricing). Analysis is conducted on the risk-oriented approach in tax administration of transfer pricing in the Russian Federation. The scientific novelty consists in systematization of the approaches towards tax administration of transfer pricing and formulation of recommendations for improving the efficiency of current processes. The analysis of the practice of tax administration of transfer pricing and the corresponding case law indicates that in assessing the adequacy of prices in controlled transactions to the market level, the tax authorities apply the so-called “risk-oriented” approach aimed at determination of the segments/market participants/transactions with the highest risk of transfer pricing. The implementation of risk-oriented approach requires the development of risk profiles of transfer pricing, which, depending on the analyzed segment or subject matter of transaction, represent a list of tax control measures and circumstances (risk factors) that allow concluding on the presence of transfer pricing risk in such transaction. The practical importance of this research consists in the possibility of using the results the acquired results by the government bodies that carry out the functions of administering transfer pricing, as well as by the organizations that use transfer prices as the tax planning instrument.