Transfer Pricing

A driving factor behind this is the fact that the Danish Tax Agency often, on relatively weak grounds, disregards the transfer pricing documentation prepared by the taxpayer. This leads to the Danish Tax Agency assessing tax on a discretionary basis and placing the burden of proof on the taxpayer. Moreover, tax treaties do not always guarantee the elimination of double taxation through mutual agreement procedures (MAP) and arbitration, and the EU Tax Dispute Resolution Directive only applies within the EU.

As a result, there is a great need for strategic advisory services early in the tax audit phase and throughout a potential administrative appeal and court case to navigate these challenges effectively.

Our expertise – strategic advisory services and litigation

Plesner assists in transfer pricing cases involving total increases of several billion DKK.

Plesner does not draw up transfer pricing documentation, perform valuations or provide other compliance-related transfer pricing services. Instead, we do what we do best - providing strategic advisory services and handling transfer pricing disputes.

We assist both during the tax audit, in connection with an administrative appeal and at the court level. We also have a proven track record of resolving transfer pricing cases through settlement and arbitration.

Typically, we are involved during the tax audit phase, including in negotiations with the Danish Tax Agency, and most often in close collaboration with the business' transfer pricing advisor and own finance or tax department.

In 2002, Plesner won what is regarded as the first actual transfer pricing case before the Danish National Tax Tribunal, and in 2022 Plesner also led the first Danish transfer pricing dispute decided in arbitration under the EU Arbitration Convention (now superseded by the EU Tax Dispute Resolution Directive).

Even though the Danish National Tax Tribunal and the courts have issued a number of decisions and judgments on transfer pricing in recent years, numerous fundamental questions remain unresolved, leading to continued legal uncertainty in the area.

Plesner assists a range of Danish and international groups in transfer pricing matters pending at the audit level, in administrative appeals and in litigation before the courts. The cases involve i.a. valuation of intangible assets, choice of transfer pricing methods, whether transfer pricing documentation can be disregarded, questions on the burden of proof and the use of expert appraisers.

Plesner has been awarded "Denmark Tax Firm of the Year" 13 times since 2009 by the International Tax Review, and has been awarded "Denmark Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year" and "Denmark Tax Disputes Firm of the Year" several times.