- The tax authority in Austria is the Ministry of Finance.
- Austria is an OECD member, and the Austrian Transfer Pricing Guidelines interpret how tax authorities follow transfer pricing rules. While they provide support, they do not constitute binding law in Austria.
- Austria has adopted BEPS Action 13 and requires that the transfer pricing master and local files be prepared contemporaneously for companies meeting a certain threshold. For companies that meet the EUR 750 million threshold, a country-by-country report (CBCR) is also required. Tax authorities also require unique transfer pricing disclosure, the “TP Doc,” be submitted.
- Austria has a master file requirement where if the entity has turnover exceeding EUR 50 million under local GAAP reporting in each of the prior two years, or if another group entity must prepare the master file.
- The local file requirement is similar to the master file requirement of EUR 50 million under local GAAP reporting in each of the prior two years.
- For entities falling below the master and local files threshold, general transfer pricing documentation should be prepared contemporaneously, but without the need to produce an OECD master and local file.
- The general documentation should include a minimum of information on the related parties, the MNE group, the relevant transactions, the value chain within the group, the FAR analysis, the choice of TP method, and the comparability analysis and contracts. It should be prepared with the tax return but only submitted upon request.
- More detailed documentation is likely to be requested for intangibles and services based on case law.
- There are no safe harbors in Austria.
- The potential for transfer pricing adjustments is very high as audits are conducted each year.
- Permanent establishments are treated like corporations and are required to follow transfer pricing regulations.
- Transfer pricing documentation is not required to be filed with the corporate income tax return.
- The corporate income tax return must be filed by 31 March of the second calendar year following the balance sheet date if represented by an Austrian tax advisor, all others by 30 June following the balance sheet date.
- Austria enacted Pillar 2 legislation in 2024.
- The transfer pricing documentation law (TPDL) provides guidance for the preparation of the documentation.
- The report should be prepared in the official language, German. English may be accepted, but translation to German may be required.
- Local comparables are preferred, but regional pan-European (either EU-15 or EU-27) benchmarks are accepted.
- Multi-year financials are used for comparables, and a single-year analysis should be conducted for the tested party.
- The interquartile range calculation using spreadsheet quartile formulas is accepted.
