When concluding contracts between companies within a group or between a controlling and controlled person (regardless of whether they are natural or legal persons), it may seem at first glance that there is not much need to think about the legal aspects of the contract – both entities are usually linked by personnel or managed from one centre.
However, these purely private relations are significantly interfered with by public law obligations, in this case arising from tax regulations.
In any business relations between the above-mentioned related parties, it is necessary to comply with the arm’slength principle, otherwise known astransfer pricing.
What is it?
This principle means that in any business relationship agreed between related parties , prices must be set at arm’s length, i.e. in an amount that would correspond to a contract in the ordinary course of business.
In the Czech legal system, this principle is enshrined in § 23 para. . According to this provision, if prices are not set at the usual rate in business relations between related entities and this difference is not satisfactorily documented, the tax administrator (tax office) will adjust the income tax base by this difference. This principle applies to all business relationships, It can therefore relate to, for example, contracts for the transfer of movable or immovable property, loans, credit financing, etc.
At the same time, it is no longer the case that the tax authorities focus only on large multinational corporations and that small or medium-sized enterprises are “not worth dealing with”. According to a press release of the tax administration, 570 audits were carried out in 2023, focusing on this activity and in this context, tax was assessed on audited entities in the total amount of CZK 724 million.
An example from practice is the case dealt with by the Supreme Administrative Court in Decision No. 5 Afs 310/2019-49 of 2021. The tax administrator qualified the said loan agreements as consumer credit and, according to an expert opinion, determined the contractual interest rate of 15-17% for such loans in the given period. In view of this, the company was subsequently assessed for income tax.
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This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or guidance for any particular case.