Share on LinkedInShare on LinkedIn

ARTICLE · 28 JULY 2004

Can German Taxable Income Be Determined On A Cost-Plus Basis?

The cost-plus method is one of the three transfer pricing methods accepted by the German tax authorities. (The other two are the comparable uncontrolled price method and the resale price method.)

GermanyTax
Andrew Miles
Andrew Miles

Yes, as long as reasonable in the circumstances

Yes. The cost-plus method is one of the three transfer pricing methods accepted by the German tax authorities. (The other two are the comparable uncontrolled price method and the resale price method.) Since the transfer pricing regulations put taxpayers together with their foreign related parties under a requirement to select the method most appropriate in all the circumstances, cost-plus will generally be acceptable as a method of determining German taxable income, unless it is manifestly unreasonable in the given case.

Mark-ups typically lie within the range of 5% - 10%. The business, or "economic", pre-condition is that the German activity should contribute towards the earning of income, rather than earn that income directly. Marketing or sales support provided by a small German entity might very well be able to charge out its activities under the cost-plus method, whereas a German sales subsidiary acting as an independently

We operate a free-to-view policy, asking only that you register in order to read all of our content. Please login or register to view the rest of this article.

See more popular content from