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Take advantage of our free expert resources, written by the experts at LCN Legal, based on their practical experience of working with multinational groups and their advisers across the globe. If you are interested in these areas, you may wish to bookmark this page to check back regularly for new information.

Coronavirus Q&A: Can a force majeure clause in an intercompany agreement justify a period of no mark up for a UK service company?

18 May 2020   Paul Sutton

I thought you might be interested in a question we received last week from an international tax adviser. I’ve set out the question and our answer below. Q: We’re having a number or enquiries from US headquartered groups regarding adjusting TP with UK service companies. I was wondering whether a force majeure clause in an…

Group Reorganisations

Intercompany Agreements

COVID-19 and force majeure clauses in intercompany agreements

19 April 2020   Paul Sutton

A short guide for transfer pricing and tax professionals on force majeure clauses in intercompany agreements and other key legal points to consider when revising transfer pricing policies in response to COVID-19 The OECD’s evaluation of the impact of COVID-19 containment measures on economic activity (as updated on 14 April 2020) suggests  that  “the  initial …

Intercompany Agreements

Transfer Pricing in a Pandemic – Lessons from China

6 April 2020   Paul Sutton

It has been very encouraging to receive the news from Xiaofang’s family and from our friends that life in China is starting to open up again. Her parents are now busy in her grandmother’s vegetable garden in the countryside near Xinzheng (having been allowed to leave the family home in the city), local schools in…

Intercompany Agreements

Do you actually know what you are doing?

2 March 2020   Paul Sutton

As far as we can tell, containing the corona virus seems to depend more on washing hands, rather than wearing surgical masks the whole time. You might think that you know how to wash your hands effectively, but in reality you probably don’t. If you’re anything like me, you probably just act on auto-pilot, based…

Intercompany Agreements

Not About the Year of the Rat

27 January 2020   Paul Sutton

I had planned for this post to be about the Chinese Year of the Rat, and what it means if you were born in 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984 or 1996. But I’m writing this in China, having recently returned from a brief trip to the UK, and it doesn’t feel like the right time…

Intercompany Agreements

Substance over form in transfer pricing – a common misconception

2 December 2019   Paul Sutton

It is often said that the OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines emphasize substance over form, when it comes to delineating controlled transactions. This is true insofar as it goes, but it gives rise to a common misconception that functional analysis trumps legal agreements. It’s true that if an intercompany agreement (put in place in advance, or…

Intercompany Agreements

Can a single clause in an intercompany agreement make a 20% difference to the pricing of a controlled transaction?

7 October 2019   Paul Sutton

In real life, a single clause (or even a single word) in a legal agreement can make a huge difference to the commerciality of an arrangement. Exclusive vs non-exclusive licences. Recourse vs non-recourse factoring. One month vs 12 month subscription terms. Overdrafts repayable at will vs term loans with no right of prepayment. Intercompany transactions…

Intercompany Agreements

Should Intercompany Agreements be put in place between a ‘parent’ company and its own permanent establishment / branch?

29 October 2018   Paul Sutton

This question came up again last week on a transfer pricing project (many thanks to AH and NA for raising it!). The issue was how the relationship between ‘parent’ company and its own branch / permanent establishment (PE) should be documented – and specifically the use of a memorandum vs a document in the style…

Intercompany Agreements
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