The incompatible Definitions of Intangibles between the OECD Guidelines and the U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act from a Transfer Pricing Perspective.

Abstract: “What discrepancies arise from the incompatible definitions of intangibles for transfer pricing purposes according to the OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines 2017 and the U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, and what are the risks?” The thesis analyses the discrepancies of the different definitions of intangibles in a transfer pricing context, between the OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines 2017 and the U.S. tax reform of 2017, namely the U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The different treatment of goodwill and ongoing concern value within the OECD Guidelines and the U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is the main focus of the thesis. While the core analysis highlights and discusses the discrepancies of the different definitions and the legal risks that arise through that, another focus is to provide the reader with an outline on the importance of a plain and proper definition of intangibles for transfer pricing purposes.