Section 3 - GENERAL APPLICATION RULES AND REQUIREMENTS FOR MEMBER STATES
18. Since the EU TPD is a basic set of information for the assessment of the MNE group's transfer prices a Member State would be entitled in its domestic law to require more and different information and documents, by specific request or during a tax audit, than would be contained in the EU TPD.
19. The period for providing additional information and documents upon specific request (cf. paragraph 18) should be determined on a case-by-case basis taking into account the amount and detail of the information and documents requested. Depending on specific local regulations, the timing should give the taxpayer a reasonable time (which can vary depending on the complexity of the transaction) to prepare the additional information.
20. Taxpayers avoid cooperation-related penalties where they have agreed to adopt the EU TPD approach and provide, upon specific request or during a tax audit, in a reasonable manner and within a reasonable time additional information and documents going beyond the EU TPD (cf. paragraph 18).
21. Taxpayers should have to submit their EU TPD, i.e. the masterfile and the country-specific documentation, to the tax administration only at the beginning of a tax audit or upon specific request.
22. Where a Member State requires a taxpayer to submit information about transfer pricing with its tax return, that information should be no more than a short questionnaire or an appropriate risk assessment form.
23. It may not always be necessary for documents to be translated into a local language. In order to minimize costs and delays caused by translation, Member States should accept documents in a foreign language as far as possible. As far as the EU Transfer Pricing Documentation is concerned, tax administrations should be prepared to accept the masterfile in a commonly understood language for the Member States concerned. Translations of the masterfile should be made available only if strictly necessary and upon specific request.
24. Member States should not oblige taxpayers to retain documentation beyond a reasonable period consistent with the requirements of the domestic laws which apply to each enterprise in the group.
25. Member States should evaluate domestic or non-domestic comparables with respect to the specific facts and circumstances of the case. For example, comparables found in pan-European databases should not be rejected automatically. The use of non-domestic comparables by itself should not subject the taxpayer to penalties for non-compliance.
