IRS Audits of Intercompany Transactions Build Steam

The IRS is winning more cases in the US Tax Court over companies' valuation of intangible assets, such as patents and trademarks, through transfer pricing.

The wins have caught the attention of companies and practitioners as they mull the growing risks of transfer pricing, which governs transactions between related companies that are part of the same multinational group.

Disputes between the IRS and companies such as Coca-Cola and 3M have showcased the agency's newfound ability to audit their positions and win in Tax Court when challenged. Both cases are being appealed.

In addition, a new IRS policy to assess more penalties when documentation is lacking could make companies' transfer pricing positions much riskier than in the past, practitioners say, and taxpayers may have to start factoring that in.

In this week’s Talking Tax podcast, Bloomberg Tax reporter Caleb Harshberger spoke with Grant Thornton LLP Transfer Pricing Technical Leader Steve Wrappe and Greenberg Traurig LLP shareholder Sharon Katz-Pearlman about how the IRS has changed its approach and what additional funding from the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act means for taxpayers moving forward.

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