Countries Focus on Providing More Advance Tax Agreements

Tax authorities around the world are increasing their focus on advance pricing agreements to give taxpayers certainty on transfer pricing, officials said Wednesday.

France has moved from concluding 15 APAs annually five years ago to finishing 30 now, according to Stephanie Prudent, deputy director of international affairs at France’s Direction Générale des Finances Publiques.

Prudent said France doesn’t want to give up on signing unilateral APAs with companies, as it takes less time, but the tax authority wants to shift gradually toward multilateral pacts.

The UK, meanwhile, is focusing on signing multilateral APAs with other tax authorities, rather than ...