On 1 November 2011, the Assistant Treasurer, Bill Shorten,
released a consultation paper addressing proposed reform of
Australia's transfer pricing rules with the objective of
making those rules consistent with international standards. Some
reform is to apply to income years commencing on or after 1 July
2004! The Government says that its objective is to improve the
integrity and efficiency of the tax system and to minimise
profit-shifting between multinational enterprises.
Since the introduction of transfer pricing rules in Division 13
of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 (Act) nearly 30 years ago,
there has been little change to the legislation. During this time,
at the international level, transfer pricing has been evolving. In
2010 the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
(OECD) released revised Transfer Pricing Guidelines for
Multinational Enterprises and Tax Administrations reflecting
changes to the internationally accepted approach to
