Latest OECD stats shed light on Irish MAP and APA trends

During the course of their sixth “Tax Certainty Day” held on 15 November last, the OECD released details of the 2023 mutual agreement procedure (“MAP”) statistics and for the first time published statistics for advanced pricing agreements (APA) in respect of 2023.

Overview of 2023 MAP & APA Statistics 
 

• The MAP statistics for 2023 cover a record of 140 jurisdictions. For the first time, MAP inventories have decreased at a global level, with a 3.8% reduction in end-of-year cases. New transfer pricing MAP cases dropped 16%, while other cases increased slightly by 2.8%.
• 46 jurisdictions with bilateral APA programmes reported their APA statistics showing an average of over 4000 cases in inventory. The release of APA data should assist stakeholders in assessing the dispute prevention landscape and place an increased focus on reducing completion times.

Overview of Irish MAP and APA Statistics
 

• Ireland’s inventory of transfer pricing MAP cases increased from 77 to 90 in 2023 (30 new MAPs initiated and 16 MAPs closed). Double tax relief was eliminated in full in 88% of cases closed in 2023 (14 of 16 closed cases). Of the remaining closed cases, one taxpayer was denied MAP access, and another withdrew their MAP application.
• The average time to close a transfer pricing MAP involving Ireland was 31.50 months in 2023, below the OECD average of 32.01 months.
• Based on closing inventory at the end of 2023, Ireland’s most significant MAP partners were Italy (28.57%), Spain (19.48%), United States (13.19%) and the UK (13.19%).
• The average time for Ireland to reach conclusion on transfer pricing MAP cases with Spain (12.62 months), the UK (12.41 months) and the United States (20.91 months) was well below the BEPS Action 14 recommended timeframe of 24 months.
• The average time to close transfer pricing MAPs with Italy was 39.69 months and increased the overall average in 2023. It will be interesting to see if the average time to complete Irish/Italian MAPs reduces in future years as taxpayers have greater access to MAP under the EU Dispute Resolution Mechanism. 
• Notably, there were 7 new transfer pricing MAP cases with the UK initiated in 2023. This was higher than initiated cases with other jurisdictions and suggests an increased level of Irish/UK TP disputes.
• Ireland’s inventory of APA applications increased from 54 to 68 in 2023 (16 APA requests received in 2023, 1 granted and 1 withdrawn). While only 1 APA concluded in this period, it is understood from the Irish Revenue annual report for 2023 that substantial progress was made on four other APAs, leading to their conclusion in early 2024.

Further details on global jurisdictions and regional MAP statistics can be found on the OECD’s website.

If you have any questions, please reach out to our transfer pricing team today. 

Deloitte Ireland LLP
November 2024