Tax Updates: September 4th 2023

The recently issued decision A.1107/2023 of the Independent Authority for Public Revenues (AADE) abolished -and in essence replaced- as of 28 July 2023 the previous circular POL.1284/2013 concerning the procedure for the issuance of Advance Pricing Agreements (APAs) under Article 22 of the Tax Procedure Code. This new decision does not introduce any significant amendments to the procedure for the issuance of APAs, as currently in force. It mainly includes modifications to some timelines that need to be met within the framework of said procedure for the issuance of APAs and incorporates the new developments introduced by law in 2020 regarding the possibility for APAs to have retroactive effect.

In particular, by virtue of the new decision:

• The time limitation to submit the application for the issuance of the APA within thirty (30) days from the preliminary negotiation meeting (in case preliminary negotiation takes place) no longer applies.
• A specific time limit of two (2) months (instead of the “reasonable” time limit provided for in the previous decision) is set within which the person applying for the APA must submit to the competent authority any additional information requested during the assessment of the application.
• The competent authority must issue its decision on the application for the issuance of an APA within thirty (30) days from the final meeting with the applicant (instead of twenty (20) days, as per the previous decision).

The applicant must submit an annual report of compliance with the terms of the APA for the respective tax year within ninety (90) days from the deadline for filing tax returns for that tax year (instead of “by the end of the deadline for filing tax returns for that tax year” as provided in the previous decision). If the APA has retroactive effect, then the applicant must submit the relevant compliance report for each prior tax year covered by the APA within ninety (90) days from the notification of the issuance of the APA.