Japan 2016 tax reform revises transfer pricing documentation requirements
On December 24, 2015, the Japanese Cabinet approved the 2016 tax reform proposal (2016 Tax Reform), which includes revisions to Japanese transfer pricing (TP) documentation requirements. The revisions are based on recommendations in the "Transfer Pricing Documentation and Country-by Country Reporting, Action 13 2015 Final Report" (Action 13 Report) published on October 5, 2015 as part of the BEPS Project carried out by OECD and G20.
Under the reform, the preparation and filing of a Master File and a Country-by-Country Report (CbC Report) principally will be required of the ultimate parent company of a multinational enterprise (MNE). The new rules also will require the contemporaneous preparation of a Local File by all taxpayers that meet a transaction threshold. The contents of the Local File are those set out in Article 22-10 (1) of the Ordinance for Enforcement of the Act on Special Measures Concerning Taxation of Japan (the ASMT Ministerial Order), which will be changed slightly for some clarifications and the addition of some reportable items by the reform. Various effective dates apply for the new rules, as stated below.
This Tax Insight outlines the revised TP documentation requirements in Japan, with reference to the recommendations in the Action 13 Report, and highlights some of the potential implications for taxpayers in Japan.
In detail
TP documentation requirements
The 2016 Tax Reform includes new TP documentation requirements for the preparation of a Master Files, Local File, and CbC Report in Japan, and the filing of the Master File and CbC Report. The required documentation is consistent with the three-tiered approach to TP documentation set out in the Action 13 Report.
The Master File and CbC Report are newly required, while the Local File largely is equivalent to the documentation currently required under the ASMT Ministerial Order. More specific details of each requirement are provided below; some remaining areas of uncertainty are expected to be clarified at a later date by Order or Directive.
Master File is intended to provide an overview of the MNE for the relevant tax administration to evaluate the presence of significant TP risks. Thus, the Action 13 Report explains that the Master File should include the nature of the MNE’s global business operations, its overall TP policies, and its global allocation of income and economic activity. However, the Master File is only intended to provide a high level overview of the MNE’s TP pricing practices, and detailed information is not intended to be provided.
The submission and filing of the same general information as set out in the Action 13 Report will be required in Japan for taxpayers belonging to an MNE that meets a threshold test o group consolidated revenues of over JPY100 billion (in the preceding fiscal year). Submission thus will be required for both (a) Japanese-headquartered MNEs and (b) subsidiaries or branches of foreign-headquartered MNEs, where the MNE to which they belong meets this test. In the latter case, submission will be required without recourse by the Japanese government to the exchange of information provision of tax treaties (unlike for the CbC Report).
The new requirement will be effective for taxpayers’ fiscal years beginning on or after April 1, 2016, with the submission deadline one year following the close of the ultimate parent company’s fiscal year to which the Master File relates. The Master File can be prepared in either Japanese or English. The submission must be made electronically.
Local File
The Action 13 Report provides that the Local File should contain more detailed information relating to specific intercompany transactions, in compliance with the tax laws of each local jurisdiction. According to the Action 13 Report, the information required in the Local File supplements the Master File and is intended to help meet the objective of assuring that the taxpayer has complied with the arm’s-length principle.
As the contents specified in the Action 13 Report largely are equivalent to the documentation already listed in the ASMT Ministerial Order, Law changes to be made to adopt the Local File requirement in Japan will be limited to some clarifications and the addition of some reportable items.
Both Japanese parent companies of MNE’ and Japanese subsidiaries (of both Japanese parent companies and foreign parent companies) will be required to prepare Local Files covering their own related-party transaction ,effective for fiscal years beginning on or after April 1, 2017. The reason for the one-year delay in implementation (as contrasted with implementation (as contrasted with the Master File and CbC Report) is that a contemporaneous preparation requirement also is being introduced for the Local File.
This requirement will apply to taxpayers having transactions with a related party that exceeded a total transaction amo