A DISPUTE AVOIDANCE MECHANISM FOR TRANSFER PRICING IN THE EU - STATE AID HALLMARKS: A REVIEW OF LEGAL CERTAINTY IN LIGHT OF STATE AID RISKS

In the current situation of legal uncertainty, PhD candidate Antonio Ancora’s research at the University of Luxembourg aims to improve tax certainty in the context of state aid investigation on Transfer Pricing transactions among multinational enterprises. In the current International and European legal framework, there is no legal certainty in taxation, especially for transfer pricing transactions among Multinational Enterprises. As part of his PhD, Antonio Ancora asks: ‘Is there a legal instrument capable to re-establish tax certainty in the current international context characterized by the aftermath of BEPS and EU State aid investigations?’ The goal of Antonio’s research project is to define limits and methodology, in order to re-establish the fundamental principle of legal certainty.Legal certainty in the aftermath of Amazon, Fiat and Huhtamaki tax investigations. It is widely known that Luxembourg is one of the countries that have in recent repeatedly been affected by State aid investigations on Advance Price Arrangement: Amazon, Fiat, and Huhtamaki to name a few companies. Advance Price Arrangement is a legal instrument issued by the tax administration: Its purpose is to provide tax certainty on the application of tax laws and complex standards. “Although there are positive effects of OECD BEPS actions and EU State aid investigations, tax uncertainty represents the main side effect. The implications of the legal instrument I intend to propose will, hopefully, encourage all participating’ players to consider a more ‘legally certain’ approach in their analysis by considering State aid as an independent risk factor.” Antonio explains.

“A ‘legally certain’ approach highlights the major business trends and impacts on business expectations of the local and international enterprises, which is expected to bring highly relevant international investments not only to Luxembourg but also within Europe.”In the first instance, Antonio’s tax policy proposal aims to give instruments to protect taxpayer rights with a spillover effect on fostering investments and compliance.