Maltese Transfer Pricing Guidelines

The Malta Tax and Customs Administration published Guidelines in relation to the Maltese Transfer Pricing Rules. The guidelines can be accessed from here, and the following are the salient features of these guidelines:

• The Guidelines shed light on what may constitute a ‘material alteration’ for the purposes of the grandfathering provision, including a non-exhaustive list of examples of what constitutes, and what does not constitute, a material alteration.

• The preferred transfer pricing methods to be applied for the purposes of the Maltese Transfer Pricing Rules are those set out in Chapter II of the OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines, however, other methods may be accepted if they are more appropriate based on the facts and circumstances of the case at hand.

• The simplified approach to calculate the arm’s length pricing of low value-adding intra-group services in accordance with the OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines and the EU Joint Transfer Pricing Forum guidelines is also accepted for the purposes of the Maltese Transfer Pricing Rules.

• The transfer pricing documentation to be retained by taxpayers shall be the Master File and Local File in line with Chapter V of the OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines and should be disclosed to the MTCA only upon a specific request by the MTCA.

Should you require any further information in this respect please do not hesitate to contact the undersigned or your KPMG contact.