CBDT Signed 62 Advance Pricing Agreements for FY 2021-22

In financial year 2021-22, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has entered into 62 Advance Pricing Agreements (APA) with Indian taxpayers. There are 13 Bilateral APAs (as a result of Mutual Agreement between India and its treaty partners) and 49 Unilateral APAs. With this, the total number of APAs since the program’s commencement has risen to 421.

Despite the tremendous economic and social disruption caused by the COVID-19 outbreak in the first half of the financial year, the number of APAs signed compares favourably to the previous two years (31 APAs in FY 2020-21 and 57 APAs in FY 2019-20).

The APA Scheme aims to offer taxpayers with certainty in the realm of transfer pricing by outlining pricing techniques and setting the arm’s length price of foreign transactions in advance for up to five future years. Furthermore, the taxpayer has the option of rolling back the APA for the four preceding years, resulting in a total of nine years of tax certainty.

The advancement of the APA plan reinforces the government’s commitment to promoting a non-adversarial tax framework and improving the ease of doing business in India. CBDT appreciates taxpayers’ cooperation and transparent attitude in this regard.