From documentation to disclosure: Malta’s first transfer pricing filing season

As of the year of assessment 2026, taxpayers with cross-border related-party arrangements must complete the new TRA 135 attachment to their corporate income tax return, including where they conclude that Malta’s Transfer Pricing Rules do not apply and why. The filing brings transfer pricing policies, commercial rationale and documentation into closer focus for businesses operating in Malta. 

To support businesses through this first filing season, Deloitte will host its Transfer Pricing Conference 2026, bringing together representatives of the Malta Tax and Customs Administration (MTCA) officials, multinational business leaders and transfer pricing specialists to discuss practical approaches to TRA 135 and wider governance. The questions that taxpayers may face in the coming months are the same the conference will address.

When the MTCA introduced TRA 135, it created a structured way for businesses to articulate the commercial reality behind their intercompany pricing. The form itself may appear straightforward, but completing it calls for a position that should be reconciled with the underlying evidence. For businesses operating across jurisdictions, the challenge is to present the commercial story: the contracts, the conduct, the contemporaneous reasoning, and the numbers that flow from all three.

For multinational groups, this is not merely a compliance exercise; it is a governance issue with potential cross-border implications. A TRA 135 filing that cannot be reconciled to transfer pricing documentation, intercompany agreements, or financial statements may prompt questions about the group's position in Malta and elsewhere. Adjustments in one jurisdiction may have implications in another; depending on the arrangements, VAT treatment or customs valuations may also need to be considered.

Getting the sequence right

Transfer pricing works best when it unfolds as a sequence: design, decision, implementation, reporting. The facts come first and disclosures come last, identifying a desired outcome, constructing the analysis to support it, and filing the return. The risk arises when a business instead identifies a desired outcome, constructs an analysis to support it and then files the return. When the authority asks questions months later, the contemporaneous evidence may be sparse: contracts do not clearly articulate pricing terms, functional analyses may not have been formally recorded, and the business may struggle to explain why the numbers look the way they do. This is a preventable governance gap.

Contractual clarity is often overlooked. Intercompany agreements should be treated not only as legal formalities but as risk management tools, articulating commercial terms, cost bases, risk allocation, and the assumptions that underpin the pricing model. This can help identify inconsistencies before they become points of challenge when a transfer pricing position is tested against the agreement, financial statements, and actual conduct. A business that gets the contractual architecture right from the outset can better connect commercial reality and technical analysis. It is better placed to demonstrate that pricing was derived from genuine commercial terms.

Building defensible positions

For groups with intercompany financing, the stakes may be higher as an interest rate that looked reasonable at the time may not be harder to support years later if the credit analysis that supported it was never documented or if market conditions have shifted materially. Contemporaneous credit analysis should include an assessment of the borrower’s creditworthiness, comparable rates for similar borrowers in similar circumstances, and the terms and conditions that reflect the risk profile of the loan. As market conditions evolve, periodic monitoring should consider whether that the arrangement continues to be implemented in accordance with its terms and whether  changes in the economically relevant characteristics may require the transaction to be reassessed. For businesses with significant intercompany debt, this discipline can make a position easier to explain to the tax authority and reconcile with the financial statements. Establishing the evidence when decisions are made may also be less burdensome than reconstructing it later.

This is why the commercial story matters: a business that can clearly explain why its transfer prices reflect arm's length terms is better placed to respond if questions arise. The conference will explore practical approaches to building and maintaining this evidence base across multiple jurisdictions.

Governance is key

As transfer pricing becomes a recurring disclosure exercise, governance is critical. Who owns the transfer pricing position? Who ensures that the return, documentation, intercompany agreements, and financial statements tell the same story? Who identifies gaps before they become issues raised in a review?

Businesses that navigate Malta’s first transfer pricing filing season with confidence are those that have embedded transfer pricing into their tax governance framework. Filing the return is the beginning, not the end. The positions disclosed this year may subsequently be tested against the underlying documentation, and the structured information provided through TRA 135 will give the MTCA an additional source of information when assessing taxpayers' transfer pricing positions and identifying areas requiring further enquiry.

These themes are central to Malta's developing transfer pricing landscape. How should multinational groups approach disclosure requirements within their wider global transfer pricing governance framework? How can businesses ensure that disclosures are supportable when the authority asks questions? What role does the commercial story play when technical analysis alone is insufficient?

Continuing the conversation at the Deloitte Malta’s Transfer Pricing Conference 2026

These issues form the core of Deloitte Malta’s Transfer Pricing Conference 2026. The MTCA, multinational business leaders, and transfer pricing specialists will discuss the mechanics of TRA 135 completion and the governance frameworks that make disclosure easier to explain and support. The conference will address  transfer pricing risk management from design to reporting and will feature perspectives from industry participants implementing transfer pricing frameworks in Malta. For businesses preparing their first TRA 135 filing or seeking to strengthen their transfer pricing governance, the conference offers an opportunity to engage with the authority, hear from peers, and understand how practical approaches to documentation and governance can support more coherent disclosures.