Are OECD guidelines considered sources of law for Brazilian transfer pricing regulations? (English/Portuguese)

The interpretation of transfer pricing rules is a complex and crucial issue in the field of international taxation. In the Brazilian context, the enactment of the new Transfer Pricing Normative Instruction, in line with the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) guidelines, represents a significant milestone in the pursuit of a more coherent and internationally aligned taxation. However, there are anticipated uncertainties regarding the legitime sources for interpreting the new Transfer Pricing rules, notably the role of OECD guidelines in this regard.

The Polish Tax Office and Court dealt with an interesting case involving the assessment of the role of the OECD in interpreting transfer pricing rules. It so happened that a company named E S.A. transferred the legal ownership of a trademark to a subsidiary in 2010, with a licensing agreement in place. In 2013, the trademark in question was transferred back to E S.A. The Polish Tax Office understood that there was an excessive deduction of depreciation related to the trademark. It also argued that the functions performed by the subsidiary in relation to the trademark were limited, and the repurchase value did not reflect what unrelated parties would have paid.

Within this perspective, the Polish Tax Office based its reclassification on an annex to Chapter VI of the OECD Guidelines, titled Illustrative Examples of Recommendations on Intangible Assets, under which the transaction should be classified as a trademark management service contract.

The Polish Court, however, understood that the OECD recommendations could not be considered a source of Polish law:

"In this context, it should be clarified that the OECD Guidelines (as well as other documents of this organisation), in the light of the provisions of Article 87 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, do not constitute a source of universally binding law. Neither can they determine in a binding manner the basic structural elements of a tax, since the constitutional legislator in Article 217 of the Basic Law has subjected this sphere exclusively to statutory regulations. Since these guidelines do not constitute a source of law, they can therefore neither lead to an extension of the powers of the tax authorities nor of the obligations of taxpayers provided for in the Tax Act."

With the implementation of the OECD Guidelines in Brazil, a process closely monitored by the aforementioned institution, various challenges in interpreting the model have arisen. Not only will its fluid logic open up interpretative space, but also a formalistic issue: will Brazilian courts accept OECD guidelines as a legitimate mechanism for interpreting transfer pricing rules? Considering the absence of traditional domestic doctrine on the subject, will there be another option besides this application? How to legitimize this application, especially considering that Brazil is not yet formally a member of the OECD? Interesting and constructive times are on the horizon.

Herreveld Van den Hurk & Partners (www.hhp.law) is small boutique advisor firm with an interdisciplinary team of top specialists in strategies and controversies in international taxation. The author of this edition of the newsletter is Prof. Dr. Pilar Coutinho Elói. She is professor international taxation, Pontifical Catholic University of Minas Gerais, Brazil (PUC-MG) and partner of HHP. A more comprehensive article has been published in the Valor Econ?mico newspaper.

S?o as orienta??es da OCDE fontes do direito para normas de pre?os de transferência?

A interpreta??o das normas de pre?os de transferência é uma quest?o complexa e crucial no ambito da tributa??o internacional. No contexto brasileiro, a promulga??o da nova Instru??o Normativa de Pre?os de Transferência, alinhada com as diretrizes da OCDE (Organiza??o para a Coopera??o e Desenvolvimento Econ?mico), representa um marco significativo na busca por uma interpreta??o mais coerente e alinhada com as práticas internacionais. No entanto, surgem dúvidas quanto às fontes válidas para interpretar as novas normas de Pre?os de Transferência, particularmente em rela??o ao papel das orienta??es da OCDE.

As autoridades e o judiciário polonês enfrentaram um caso interessante que envolveu a avalia??o do papel da OCDE na interpreta??o das normas de pre?os de transferência. Em quest?o estava a transferência da propriedade legal de uma marca pela empresa E S.A. para uma subsidiária em 2010, com a posterior transferência de volta para a E S.a. em 2013, por meio de um contrato de licen?a de uso. O Fisco polonês alegou um excesso de dedu??es relacionadas à deprecia??o da marca, argumentando que as fun??es desempenhadas pela subsidiária eram limitadas e que o valor de recompra n?o refletia o valor que partes n?o relacionadas teriam pago.

Nesse contexto, o Fisco baseou sua requalifica??o nos Exemplos Ilustrativos para recomenda??es com bens intangíveis, presentes no Anexo ao Capítulo VI das Orienta??es da OCDE, argumentando que a transa??o deveria ser enquadrada como um contrato de servi?o de administra??o de marca.

Porém, o Tribunal entendeu que as recomenda??es da OCDE n?o poderiam ser consideradas como uma fonte do direito polonês, afirmando:

?"No contexto, convém esclarecer que as Diretrizes da OCDE (bem como outros documentos dessa organiza??o), à luz das disposi??es do Artigo 87 da Constitui??o da República da Pol?nia, n?o constituem uma fonte de lei universalmente vinculativa. Também n?o podem determinar de maneira vinculativa os elementos estruturais básicos de um imposto, uma vez que o legislador constitucional, no Artigo 217 da Lei Básica, submeteu exclusivamente essa esfera a regulamenta??es estatutárias. Uma vez que essas diretrizes n?o constituem uma fonte de lei, elas n?o podem, portanto, levar a uma amplia??o dos poderes das autoridades fiscais nem das obriga??es dos contribuintes previstas na Lei Fiscal."

Com a implementa??o das Orienta??es da OCDE no Brasil, um processo que foi de perto acompanhado pela referida institui??o, surgiram diversos desafios na interpreta??o do modelo. Além da fluidez lógica que pode abrir espa?o para interpreta??es, uma quest?o formalista se coloca: os tribunais brasileiros ir?o aceitar as orienta??es da OCDE como mecanismo legítimo de interpreta??o das normas de pre?os de transferência? Considerando a ausência de uma doutrina tradicional doméstica sobre o assunto, restará outra op??o além dessa aplica??o? Como legitimar essa aplica??o, especialmente considerando que o Brasil ainda n?o é formalmente parte da OCDE? Tempos curiosos e de constru??o est?o por vir.

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