VP-Dokumentation / 2.1 Master File

Welche Inhalte sollte ein typisches Master File enthalten?

• Das Masterfile wird zentral und identisch für alle Konzerngesellschaften erstellt. Es wird nicht lokal angepasst.
• Es ist das übergeordnete Dokument für alle Localfiles und zieht alle konzernweit zutreffenden Informationen „vor die Klammer”.
• Es enthält i. d. R. folgende wesentliche Kapitel:

Industrieanalyse: weltweit, regional

Beschreibung der organisatorischen, rechtlichen und operativen Struktur des Konzerns

Produkte, Wettbewerbergruppen, Kundengruppen

Vereinfachte F&R-Analyse samt vereinfachter Unternehmenscharakterisierung oder Wertschöpfungskettenbeschreibung

Vereinfachte Beschreibung des konzerninternen Verrechnungspreissystems

Die jüngste Veröffentlichung der OECD vom 05.10.2015^[1] schlägt folgende Inhalte für ein Masterfile vor:

Zitat

The following information should be included in the master file:

Organisational structure

Chart illustrating the MNE’s legal and ownership structure and geographical location of operating entities.

Description of MNE’s business(es)

General written description of the MNE’s business including:

• Important drivers of business profit;
• A description of the supply chain for the group’s five largest products and/or service offerings by turnover plus any other products and/or services amounting to more than 5 percent of group turnover. The required description could take the form of a chart or a diagram;
• A list and brief description of important service arrangements between members of the MNE group, other than research and development (R&D) services, including a description of the capabilities of the principal locations providing important services and transfer pricing policies for allocating services costs and determining prices to be paid for intra-group services;
• A description of the main geographic markets for the group’s products and services that are referred to in the second bullet point above;
• A brief written functional analysis describing the principal contributions to value creation by individual entities within the group, i.e. key functions performed, important risks assumed, and important assets used;
• A description of important business restructuring transactions, acquisitions and divestitures occurring during the fiscal year.

MNE’s intangibles (as defined in Chapter VI of these Guidelines)

• A description of the MNE’s overall strategy for the development, ownership and exploitation of intangibles, including location of principal R&D facilities and location of R&D management.
• A list of material intangibles or groups of intangibles of the MNE group that are important for transfer pricing purposes and which entities own them.
• A list of important agreements among identified associated enterprises related to intangibles, including cost contribution arrangements, principal research service agreements and license agreements.
• A general description of the group’s transfer pricing policies related to R&D and intangibles.
• A general description of any important transfers of interests in intangibles among associated enterprises during the fiscal year concerned, including the entities, countries, and compensation involved.

MNE’s intercompany financial activities

• A general description of how the group is financed, including important financing arrangements with unrelated lenders.The identification of any members of the MNE group that provide a central financing function for the group, including the country under whose laws the entity is organised and place of effective management of such entities.
• A general description of the MNE’s general transfer pricing policies related to financing arrangements between associated enterprises.

MNE’s financial and tax positions

• The MNE’s annual consolidated financial statement for the fiscal year concerned if otherwise prepared for financial reporting, regulatory, internal management, tax or other purposes.
• A list and brief description of the MNE group’s existing advance pricing agreements (APAs) and other tax rulings relating to the allocation of income among countries.

Kann/muss man je Business Line/Division/Teilkonzern ein (1) Master File erstellen?

Grundsätzlich fordert die OECD, dass ein (1) Master File für den Gesamtkonzern erstellt wird und auch jeder Konzerngesellschaft vollständig zur Verfügung gestellt wird. In begründeten Ausnahmefällen darf zwar je Business Line ein Master File erstellt werden, falls z. B. wesentliche Business Lines sehr unabhängig von den anderen agieren oder falls diese jüngst akquiriert worden sind. Allerdings müssen auch in diesem Fall alle Master Files allen Konzerngesellschaften übergeben werden, damit ein Gesamtüberblick möglich ist^[2].

[1] Vgl. OECD (2015), Transfer Pricing Documentation and Country-by-Country Reporting, Action 13-2015, Final Report, Annex I to Chapter V.

[2] Vgl. finaler BEPS Bericht zu Aktionspunkt 13, Kapitel V, Tz. 20.