On October 7th, 2021, the Austrian Ministry of Finance published a revised version of the Austrian Transfer Pricing Guidelines. The Guidelines should be used as an interpretative basis of the arm’s length principle and the application of tax treaties. Although the new Guidelines follow the BEPS project and focus on the actual conduct of the parties and the economic circumstances, some parts have to be analyzed in depth due to the Austrian-specific interpretation stated in the Guidelines. In some circumstances additional supporting documentation might be necessary to convince Austrian tax inspectors that costs for intercompany services or license fees are still charged at arm’s length and therefore tax deductible.
