In order to join the international battle in the area of tax avoidance and tax evasion, the Republic of North Macedonia has become part of the BEPS Inclusive Framework, committing to implement the four minimum standards:
As a result, amendments have been made in the Corporate Income Tax Act regarding transfer pricing, and in addition, the Ministry of Finance published a Rulebook on Transfer Pricing. The Macedonian legislation does not refer these changes to the BEPS Action Plan, but the contents of the required transfer pricing documentation correspond to those prescribed by the Action 13: Transfer pricing documentation.
The concept of transfer pricing has been set in the Corporate Income Tax Law since 1993 in the Republic of North Macedonia, but the 2019 amendments introduced more detailed transfer pricing rules regarding transfer pricing methods, transfer pricing analysis, comparable transactions and rules on the mandatory transfer pricing documentation. The requirements are applicable from 1 January 2019 onwards.
The amendments impose new obligations for Macedonian taxpayers, i.e. Macedonian taxpayers are obliged to prepare and submit transfer pricing documentation along with the tax return for the fiscal year 2019, by 30 September 2020. The transfer pricing documentation must be in the Macedonian language and should be submitted either in paper or in electronic form.
Taxpayers with an annual total revenue below MKD 300,000,000 during the fiscal year and taxpayers that only have transactions with related parties resident in the Republic of North Macedonia are exempt from the obligation to submit a Transfer Pricing Report.
Taxpayers who have transactions with related parties during the fiscal year in an amount that do not exceed MKD 10,000,000 can submit a short form report.
Other taxpayers that do not fall into either of the two categories described above must submit a full report.
The Full Transfer Pricing Report should contain:
The Transfer Pricing Report – short form should contain the following information for each category of transactions:
The Corporate Income Tax Act requires that for each category of transactions, i.e. group of transactions of the same type, the most appropriate method of determining the transaction price should be selected, in accordance with the arm's length principle. This indicates that all transactions with related parties should first be grouped by category, and then an appropriate transfer pricing method should be selected.
Besides the two methods previously approved by the Corporate Income Tax Act of the Republic of North Macedonia (the cost plus method and the comparable uncontrolled price method), all five standard OECD methods may now be used:
The role of the consultant will increase in the area of transfer pricing due to the amendments explained above. The consultant will offer technical assistance in drafting the Transfer Pricing Report for the fiscal year 2019 for the Client, in accordance with the Macedonian transfer pricing legislation and the OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines.
The service would also include the participation of the consultant in the analysis and preparation of the transfer pricing documentation for relevant intercompany transactions between the Client and its associated enterprises as defined by the Macedonian Corporate Income Tax Act, relevant local Rulebook on Transfer Pricing and the OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines.
The transfer pricing consultancy services would be carried out as follows:
By implementing the obligation to prepare and submit the master file and the local file, the Republic of North Macedonia introduced two of the three reports prescribed in Action 13: Transfer pricing documentation of the BEPS Action Plan and OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines. This may signal the future possibility of introducing the Country-by-Country Report in the Macedonian legislation.
Ivana Bogdanovska
ivana.bogdanovska@bdo.mk
Saska Boskovska Bogdanovska
saska.bogdanovska@bdo.mk