On February 6, 2015, TEI submitted comments to the OECD regarding its BEPS public discussion draft entitled BEPS Actions 8, 9 and 10: Revisions to Chapter I of the Transfer Pricing Guidelines (Including Risk, Recharacterisation, and Special Measures). TEI’s comments emphasized the complexity of global business operations today and the difficulty that presents for applying a transfer pricing approach that is based primarily on functions. TEI also recommended, among other things, that the ability of tax authorities to recharacterize taxpayer’s business arrangements for tax purposes be strictly limited to cases of abuse.
TEI’s comments were prepared under the aegis of TEI’s European Direct Tax Committee, whose chair is Nick Hasenoehrl. Benjamin R. Shreck, TEI Tax Counsel, coordinated the preparation of TEI’s comments.