Finally, on 29 July 2020 the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) issued the much-awaited Revenue Memorandum Circular (“RMC”) No. 76-2020, which aims to clarify issues on the filing of BIR Form No. 1709. 

BIR Form No. 1709 is the “Information Return on Transactions with Related Party” or referred to in the RMC as the Related-Party Transaction Form (RPT Form).  It covers foreign and domestic related-party transactions. 

The recently issued Revenue Regulations (“RR”) No. 19-2020, dated 08 July 2020, requires the RPT Form to be attached to annual income tax returns.  RR No. 19-2020 explains that through the years, transactions around the world have become more complex and have been subject to abuse by taxpayers with intent to evade taxes by concluding transactions between them at unreasonable prices, thus eroding the tax base.  This is usually the case for transactions between related parties (e.g., transactions between a parent company and its subsidiary or between corporation and its affiliate or sister company). 

Per RR No. 19-2020, the submission of the RPT Form will follow the guidelines prescribed for the submission of the other required attachments to the annual income tax returns (e.g., audited financial statements). However, RR No. 19-2020, which took effect already on 25 July 2020, created a lot of questions that only the BIR could answer. 

One major question was whether the RPT Form would be required for annual income tax returns covering taxable years prior to the effectivity of RR No. 19-2020.  RMC No. 76-2020 is explicit in requiring the said form for annual income tax returns for fiscal year ending 31 March 2020 and to all annual income tax returns to be submitted after such date.  Nevertheless, RMC No. 76-2020 provides for an extension of time from 30 July 2020 up to 30 September 2020 for corporations with fiscal year ending 31 March 2020.

RMC No. 76-2020 explained the rationale for the issuance of RR No. 19-2020.  The RMC says that with the information gathered in the RPT Form and its attachments, the BIR will be able to perform a transfer pricing risk assessment and make an informed decision at the early stage on whether or not to conduct a thorough review/audit of a particular entity or transaction.  According to RMC No. 76-2020, in this way, and given its limited resources, the BIR will be able to focus its audit and commit its resources only on the most important transfer pricing issues.

Indeed, requiring disclosures on related-party transactions for the purpose of performing a transfer pricing risk assessment is understandable.  It will be impossible for the BIR to conduct a transfer pricing audit of each and every related-party transaction.   This is because BIR examiners need to invest time in each transfer pricing audit.  As mandated by Revenue Audit Memorandum Order (“RAMO”) No. 01-2019, also known as the Transfer Pricing Audit Guidelines, and by also RMC No. 76-2020, BIR examiners should conduct a functional analysis and thereafter a comparability analysis (the comparable searches).  Multiple meetings between the BIR examiners and taxpayers should be conducted for the BIR examiners to understand the operations of the group of companies and the nature of the related-party transactions. Conducting a comparable analysis typically cannot be completed in a matter of four weeks.   Besides, it is also recognized that BIR examiners still need training to conduct transfer pricing audits. 

Hence, the BIR needs to have a transfer pricing risk assessment to identify which taxpayer or related-party transaction to scrutinize for transfer pricing purposes.  There are related-party transactions that potentially have the higher risks of eroding the tax base, and consequently, reducing the income tax payments to the government.  These involve cross-border transactions and domestic transactions where one party enjoys income tax exemptions.

Nevertheless, one look at the RPT Form raises concerns on how the information required may help in a transfer pricing risk assessment or how taxpayers will comply with this requirement. 

Actually, the underlying question is how does the BIR intend to do a transfer pricing risk assessment?  In other words, will the BIR merely consider the RPT Form and its attachments in making such an assessment?  Thus, when it knocks on the door of the taxpayers to do transfer pricing audits, it knows already which related-party transaction to audit and it will perform the next steps starting with the functional analysis.  Or in the alternative, when conducting transfer pricing audits, will the BIR still ask taxpayers the same questions raised by RPT Form and even ask for copies of the duly-filed RPT Form and its attachments? This latter scenario seems likely as this is what is contemplated in the Transfer Pricing Audit Guidelines (RAMO No. 1-2019).  This is not to mention the BIR’s practice during tax investigations of asking from taxpayers copies of documents even of those already filed with the BIR.

In this context, it may be worthwhile to evaluate if the following information required in the RPT is still relevant in a transfer pricing risk assessment: 

• addresses of the foreign/local related parties
• their Taxpayer’s Identification Numbers
• the filing of tax treaty relief applications
• local or foreign taxes withheld
• provisions on doubtful accounts
• expenses recognized
• terms and conditions of the transactions
• dividends
• redemption of shares
• compensation and benefits (including post-employment benefits) of the taxpayer’s key management personnel.

Likewise, the need to evaluate is also true for the following required attachments to the RPT Form:

• relevant contracts or proof of transaction
• withholding tax returns and the corresponding proof of payment of taxes withheld and remitted to the BIR
• proof of payment of foreign taxes or ruling duly issued by the foreign tax authority where the other party is a resident.

The objective of a transfer pricing risk assessment is to determine which related-party transactions could materially erode tax base and consequently reduce the income tax payments to the government.  With the RPT Form appearing to be the first step only in a transfer pricing risk assessment, the inclusion of the above enumerated information and attachments may be more than what is necessary.

In the early 1990s, the BIR already had prescribed a similar form although only for foreign related-party transactions –-  that is, BIR Form No. 1702 H, known as the “Information Return on Transactions with Related Foreign Persons”.  This long-forgotten form was just one page, listing different possible types of transactions with foreign related parties.  All taxpayers had to do was to write the total amounts per type of related-party transaction and the countries of residence of the related parties.   But even if it had only one page, this form still allowed any BIR examiner to see at a glance which was the material related-party transaction.  Hence, with respect to the RPT Form, it may be advisable to limit the information required

Moreover, taxpayers may be apprehensive over the effort needed to compile the attachments to the RPT Form.  Aside from the attachments mentioned above, the RPT Form requires also the transfer pricing documentation and the advanced pricing agreement (APA), if any. In the instances when the foreign withholding taxes have not yet been remitted to the foreign tax office, the copy of the taxpayer’s tax residency certificate issued by the BIR’s International Tax Affairs Division and submitted to the foreign tax office should be submitted

For many taxpayers, these documents may be voluminous.  Some documents may have to comply with certain formalities.  The RPT Form requires the contracts and the APAs (if any) to be certified true copies.  In the case of foreign withholding taxes, the proof of payment has to be duly authenticated or apostilled and this requirement entails costs. 

However, for documents that are not yet existing as in the case of only purchase orders evidencing intercompany sales/purchases of good, RMC No. 76-20202 expressly requires a written contract of sale.  For taxpayers without any transfer pricing documentation for the taxable year, a prior year’s documentation or any applicable documentation prepared by the group will suffice.  But for taxpayers that have not yet prepared any documentation at all, they will have to make sure that one is prepared.

Especially for the initial year of compliance, taxpayers should draft a detailed plan for complying with RR No.19-2020.  Specifically, the plan should include:

• preparing a list to see which documents available/existing and which unit are (in the Philippines or abroad) in the organization has custody of the documents
• the timeline for the compilation of attachments – Certain efficiencies may be achieved by having during the taxable year a continuing process of monitoring the transactions and turnover of documents to the person in charge of preparing the RPT Form.  Good coordination is required among the related parties.
• the timeline for preparation of the RPT Form.  

_{Maria Carmela M. Peralta is a Principal and Head of the Tax Group of KPMG R.G. Manabat & Co. (KPMG RGM&Co.), the Philippine member firm of KPMG International. KPMG RGM&Co. has been recognized as a Tier 1 tax practice and Tier 1 transfer pricing practice by the International Tax Review.}

_{This article is for general information purposes only and should not be considered as professional advice to a specific issue or entity.}

_{The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of KPMG International or KPMG RGM&Co. For comments or inquiries, please email ph-inquiry@kpmg.com or rgmanabat@kpmg.com}