INTRODUCTION Contributed by: Paolo Ludovici, Luca Tortorella, Marlinda Gianfrate and Angelica Masciulli, Gatti Pavesi Bianchi Ludovici
The Transitional CbCR Safe Harbour is based on country-by-country reporting (CbCR) data to calculate MNE groups’ revenue and income on a jurisdictional basis. The Transitional CbCR Safe Harbour uses the CbCR as a risk assessment tool to establish whether a top-up tax liability results under the GloBE rules. Furthermore, the agreed package includes a one-year extension of the Transitional CbCR Safe Harbour. Another relevant development concerns the contin - ued update of the OECD transfer pricing country pro - files, aimed at reflecting the current state of domestic legislation and the extent to which national rules align with the OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines. Between 2025 and early 2026, the OECD released updated profiles of 62 jurisdictions (out of a total of 83 jurisdictions covered so far) and published for the first time the profiles of several additional jurisdictions, including Azerbaijan, Cabo Verde, Guatemala, Paki - stan, Thailand, UAE and Zambia. The update concerned new information on country- specific legislation and practice regarding the transfer pricing treatment of hard–to–value intangibles and the simplified and streamlined approach for baseline mar - keting and distribution activities. In the context of ensuring greater clarity in taxpayer- tax authority relations, on 2 February 2026, the OECD released an updated edition of the Manual on Effective Mutual Agreement Procedures (MEMAP) to help tax administrations and taxpayers resolve international tax disputes. The updated manual introduces a more structured roadmap for mutual agreement procedures (MAPs), starting from “pre-MAP consultations” and covering both unilateral and bilateral phases of the procedure. The update is also particularly valuable considering that the OECD has introduced specific protocols to assist tax administrations with fewer resources or less experience in complex international tax programmes. Moreover, in 2025 the OECD also updated the Model Tax Convention on Income and on Capital, provid - ing – among others – new and detailed guidance on short-term cross-border remote work and on the taxa - tion of income from natural resource extraction. The
update, approved by the OECD Council, aims to pro - vide greater certainty for governments and businesses worldwide. Trade developments and potential transfer pricing implications As mentioned, 2025 was characterised by the intro - duction of new tariff measures by the Trump adminis - tration between, among others, the United States and the EU. The current tariffs system, as of late February 2026, provides for the application of a 10% global tariff on most imports and, as mentioned by the US Treasury Secretary, it is likely that the tariffs will be increased in the course of 2026 to 15%. From a transfer pricing perspective, the introduction of tariffs may significantly affect cross-border trans - actions between the USA and the EU and increase uncertainty in international trade. In the short term, multinational groups are more likely to reassess pric - ing policies and contractual arrangements to allocate tariff-related costs within the group rather than imple - ment immediate structural changes to their supply chains. More substantial operational reorganisations, such as relocation of production or sourcing strate - gies, generally require longer planning horizons and significant investment. Therefore, the main short-term implications are expected to arise in the form of trans - fer pricing adjustments, renegotiation of intra-group arrangements and broader tax and business impact assessments aimed at mitigating the effect of higher duties. United Nations level The Subcommittee on Transfer Pricing established by the United Nations Committee of Experts on Interna - tional Cooperation in Tax Matters concluded its 2021– 2025 membership and issued six guidance reports: two of them sectoral (pharmaceuticals; agriculture), two transaction-specific (carbon offsets and credits; coronavirus disease (COVID-19) economic downturn) and two administrative (compliance assurance; dis - pute avoidance and resolution). The newly appointed subcommittee’s mandate for 2025–2029 includes updating the 2021 United Nations Practical Manual on Transfer Pricing for Developing Countries by adding or amending guidance on finan -
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