Tax Penalties in Transfer Pricing

Abstract: The purpose of this thesis is to examine both the conditions for levying tax penalties in transfer pricing and the sustainability of the Swedish tax penalty framework in regard to transfer pricing in a post-BEPS world. This question is of relevance as BEPS has resulted in more extensive documentation requirements, affecting both the tax payer’s tax assessment procedure and the Swedish Tax Agency’s auditing practice. Tax penalties were introduced in order to incentivize the tax payer to disclose relevant information for the tax assessment. The scope of relevant information is relative to the correction rule, which has a significant connection to the OECD and BEPS. This thesis concludes that in a post-BEPS world, relevant information relates to domestic developments of the correction rule produced by the legislator, case law and the Swedish Tax Agency. Furthermore, this thesis concludes that transfer pricing documentation in full compliance with the Swedish content requirements should greatly mitigate a tax payer’s risk of being subjected to tax penalties. Court rulings from the lower administrative courts regarding tax penalties in transfer pricing demonstrate contradictory views to that of statutory law, case law and preparatory works. These opposing views constitute the current framework of tax penalties in transfer pricing, which is neither sustainable nor appropriate. For this reason, the Swedish tax system requires either extensive case law or statutory reform on the subject. This thesis concludes that statutory reform would perhaps be the most appropriate development in light of certain aspects of the principle of legality. Proceeding from that conclusion, this thesis therefore presents two amendments to the Swedish tax penalty framework in regard to transfer pricing.