| CODE | ACC5342 | ||||||||||||
| TITLE | Transfer Pricing Theory and Practice and an Introduction to U.S. Federal Income Tax Law | ||||||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 05 - Postgraduate Modular Diploma or Degree Course | ||||||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 7 | ||||||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 5 | ||||||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Accountancy | ||||||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | This study-unit encompasses the rules of transfer pricing praxis, including legal and fiscal obligations, guidelines by the OECD / G20 Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Project. Its primary focus deals with relevant legislative tools and instruments that are at the disposal of national governments to combat tax avoidance and ensure fair allocation of profits by multinational businesses. Moreover, the unit looks closely to the federal tax system of the United States from both the legal and fiscal perspective. Students are exposed to concepts of legal sources of the U.S. federal income tax system (statutory, administrative, and juridical) and the underlying principles of the U.S. federal income tax system. In parallel, the unit delves into other components of the U.S. tax system, including taxation of individuals and corporations, reporting requirements and the taxation of offshore operations and the expatriates and corporate inversion. Study-unit Aims: The overall aim of the study-unit seeks to improve the students’ skills portfolio to ascertain greater employability in the taxation profession field; thus it equips them with a deeper and wider comprehension of both the domestic and the international tax regimes. More specifically, the overall aim is segmented into two major objectives. Firstly, to introduce students to transfer pricing rules and principles that would equip students with the necessary knowledge and skills for a successful career in either public or private sector, as well as to enhance the professional competencies of tax practitioners and consultants. Secondly, to provide students with a thorough understanding of the federal income tax system of the United States, with a focus on the international aspects of the tax system, including taxation of inbound and outbound investments, taxation of expatriates, corporate inversion and FATCA. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Apply the concept of "transfer pricing"; - Interpret the legal framework pertaining to transfer pricing at international levels; - Analyse the topology of transfer pricing transactions embedded in Article 9 of the OECD and UN Model Tax Conventions and be able to apply them to group transfers; - Locate and relate to legal sources encompassing the income tax system of the United States; - Apply and interpret the principles of the US tax system, and their application or otherwise to transactions dealing with the US; - Decode the tax advantages and disadvantages of operating as an individual, via a corporation or via a flow-through entity; - Acquire fundamental knowledge about reporting requirements in the United States, and thus being able to ensure full compliance with US laws; - Decipher the tax effects of cross-border business activities and provide sound tax planning solutions based on sound understanding of international principles. 2. Skills By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Enhance critical thinking through the tailor-made learning materials and contextualised case studies; - Strengthen the interdisciplinary analytical skills by integrating knowledge from accounting, finance and business studies in the transfer pricing assignments; - Gain experience in working with international taxation in general and the federal income tax system of the United States in particular; - Adopt international comparative analytical frameworks as tax specialists. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Main Text - OECD (2022), ‘OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and Tax Administrations’, OECD Publishing, Paris. - Nellen, A., Cuccia, A., Persellin, M., Young, J., & D. Maloney (2022), ‘South-Westen Federal Taxation, Essentials of Taxation: Individuals and Business Entities’, 25th Edition, South-Western. Supplementary Reading - EU Cases T-778/16 and T-892/16, ‘Apple case’ available at http://curia.europa.eu/juris/document/document.jsf;jsessionid=8FDDA30BC6FD81E5F27AFB19407ECA52?text=&docid=228621&pageIndex=0&doclang=EN&mode=req&dir=&occ=first&part=1&cid=5143316 - Lessambo, F. (2016), ‘International Aspects of the US Taxation System’, USA: Palgrave Macmillan. - Monsenego, J. (2015), ‘Introduction to Transfer Pricing’, Wolters Kluwer Law & Business. - Pankiv, M. (2017), ‘Contemporary Application of the Arm’s Length Principle in Transfer Pricing’, IBFD, Vol. 6 in the WU European and International Tax Law and Policy Series. - Scott Wilkie, J. (2015), ‘Canadian Revenue Agency Guidance on intra group services and the Role of Multiple Year Data’, International Transfer Pricing Journal. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture and Independent Study | ||||||||||||
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2024/5. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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