Transfer pricing documentation - International and Switzerland (2025)

Thomas Hug

Ivo Manatschal

Simona Studer

Case 1: Formal requirements for transfer pricing documentation

1. facts of the case

The ABC Group, headquartered in Switzerland, operates in numerous countries within and outside Europe. Due to its group structure, it has many transactions between group companies and must therefore prepare transfer pricing documentation in various countries. The tax law of country X requires ABC Group to prepare transfer pricing documentation for its subsidiary there in accordance with the "Requirements of the OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines".

Questions

What are the components of such transfer pricing documentation and what is its (minimum) content?
Is there also an obligation to prepare transfer pricing documentation in Switzerland?
What provisions does the UN TP Manual contain on transfer pricing documentation?

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Case 2: Appropriateness analysis

1. facts of the case

The ABC Group charges a brand license within its group and must prepare a benchmark study as part of its transfer pricing documentation. It finds 200 comparable transactions between independent third parties in commercial databases.

Questions

Can these 200 transactions be used without restriction to determine the range or does the OECD require that these values be further restricted statistically if necessary?
Do commercial databases also contain Swiss settlement transactions?
Are benchmark studies based on commercial databases accepted without restriction by the (Swiss) tax authorities?

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Case 3: Correction of values outside the bandwidth

1. facts of the case

A routine company within the ABC Group is remunerated with an EBIT margin of 1.5% based on the business case-related net margin method. The arm's length margin according to the transfer pricing documentation is within a narrowed range of 2.5% and 8% with a median of 4%.