Transfer Pricing and Community Law: The SGI Case

Abstract:
This editorial was written four days after the European Court of Justice (ECJ) released its judgment in the SGI case. By the time it is published, much may well have been written about that case. However, here are some preliminary observations.

Some cases have the potential to become seminal judgments and leading cases: this is perhaps one of those. At issue in the case was that compatibility of cross-border transfer pricing legislation within the European Union (EU) where no similar legislation operated in a domestic context. Had the case been decided the other way, Member States would have had to re-think both their transfer pricing legislation and other cross-border anti-avoidance legislation. Even so, there are important details in the judgment that may have wider ramifications.