The Transfer Pricing regulations in force and/or the adaptation to the international standards in that area were implemented in Peru in 2017 due to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Guidelines in the Action Plan (BEPS Project of 2013), which are intended to reduce tax evasion and elusion. Conversely, before these Guidelines were in force, Article 32 of the Consolidated Amended Text was, indicating that commercial related-party transactions must be at market value, referring to the Arm’s Length Principle indirectly.
After adopted in 2003, which incorporated Article 32-A Transfer Pricing in the Income Tax Law, this was amended through the following decrees: Supreme Decree No. 190-2005-EF, Legislative Decree No. 1112, Legislative Decree No. 1312, Supreme Decree No. 340-2018-EF, Legislative Decree No. 1381, Legislative Decree No. 1537, Supreme Decree No. 327-2022-EF; these decrees incorporated new definitions, terms, methodologies, and obligations until the current regulations.
We are going to analyze herein the evolution of the Peruvian Transfer Pricing regulations, addressing the main amendments.
The Transfer Pricing concept was implemented in Peru with Article 32 of the Consolidated Amended Text of the Income Tax Law, introduced by Law No. 27356. This stated that economic related-party transactions are at market value, similar to unrelated third-party transactions or, otherwise said, the fixed value among unrelated entities in similar circumstances. This definition refers to the Arm’s Length Principle of the OECD.
According to the aforementioned, the Legislative Decree No. 945 introduced on December 23, 2003, Article 32-A on Transfer Pricing in the Income Tax Law. Subsequently, Supreme Decree N°190-2005-EF introduced on December 30, 2005, the Transfer Pricing regulations as Chapter XIX of the Consolidated Amended Text, detailing aspects, such as the scope, adjustments, and comparative analysis, among others.
The evolution continued along with a key milestone: The Superintendence Resolution 167-2006/SUNAT in October 2006, which established the formal obligations for filing the informative affidavit and the technical Transfer Pricing study; Legislative Decree N°1112 in January 2013, which specified additional guidelines on Transfer Pricing and the affidavit; and the important amendment introduced by Legislative Decree N°1312 Legislative Decree N°1312 in January 2017, to align the local legislation with the international OECD standards.
Over time, the regulations continued to be adjusted. In January 2018, Superintendency Resolution N°014-2018/SUNAT established rules for the informative affidavit of the local report. Then, Legislative Decree N°1381 came into force in 2019, which amended the processing of import/export transactions and the obligation of payments on account and repealed specific deductions.
Recently, in January 2023, two legislative decrees came into force: N°1537, intended to make deadlines for the communication of exported and imported goods more flexible, and Supreme Decree N°327-2022-EF, which amended Article 113-A of the Income Tax Law Regulations related to export and import transactions with known quotations.
This evolving process in regulations, influenced by the OECD standards, aims to reduce the tax elusion mainly. Conversely, the inherent complexity of these regulations demands constant adaptations by the consulting firms to provide a permanent updated service to taxpayers.
