San Diego Law Review
Document Type
Comments
Abstract
This Comment examines the current state of the IRS’s handling of pricing agreements within the APMA Program, arguing that the IRS should improve the Program by increasing its transparency to coincide with the additional resources being devoted to the Program, the IRS’s elevating transfer pricing enforcement, and the modern valuation challenges in transfer pricing. Part II further introduces transfer pricing and the arm’s length standard, and Part III examines the recent performance of the APMA Program. Part IV explores the Program’s troubling lack of transparency. Part V analyzes the legal and financial interests implicated by improving the Program’s transparency, arguing that the Program should be improved by (1) amending Internal Revenue Code §§ 6103(b)(2) and 6110 to allow disclosure of time-delayed redacted APAs to guide practitioners and address public concerns; (2) providing additional categories of information within the APMA annual report, including examples of APAs from that year; and (3) adding a mandatory internal appeals process for the cancellation of APAs. Last, Part VI concludes that the Program can better achieve its mission by adopting one or more of these proposals.
Recommended Citation
Blake L. Currey,
A Shrouded Remedy: Increasing Transparency in the IRS Advance Pricing and Mutual Agreement Program by Releasing Redacted Advance Pricing Agreements and Increasing Administrative Disclosures,
50
San Diego L. Rev.
1005
(2013).
Available at:
https://digital.sandiego.edu/sdlr/vol50/iss4/10