Taxation (International and Other Provisions) Act 2010 section 208

The determinations which require the Commissioners' sanction

Section 208 sets out the circumstances in which HMRC's transfer pricing determinations require formal approval (sanction) from the Commissioners for His Majesty's Revenue and Customs before they can be made.

• A transfer pricing determination is one that establishes an amount to be used for tax purposes based on the arm's length assumption under section 147
• Such a determination requires the Commissioners' sanction when it is made for specified HMRC compliance purposes, such as issuing closure notices or making discovery assessments
• The specified purposes cover a wide range of HMRC actions including closure notices on personal, trustee, partnership and company tax returns, amendments to partnership returns, and discovery assessments or determinations
• Some determinations are excepted from the sanction requirement under section 209, meaning not every transfer pricing determination needs this formal approval