San Marino transfer pricing and international advance agreements

Tax year: the taxpayer's tax period in 2026. Currency EUR. Authority: UO Ufficio Tributario (Tax Office). The corporate rate on any adjustment for 2026 is 18% (Law 141/2025, art 54(6)).

1. Who this applies to

• Companies. Income from dealings with companies that directly or indirectly control the taxpayer, are controlled by it, or are controlled by the same company as the taxpayer is valued at normal value where this increases income (IGR art 46(4)).
• Sole traders and professionals. Income from dealings with related parties is valued at normal value where this increases income (IGR art 30(4-bis)).
• Definitions. Article 2 defines group, control, significant influence and related parties. Control covers voting control and dominant influence by law or contract. Significant influence starts at 20% of voting rights held directly or indirectly. An individual's related parties include companies they control and the listed family members up to the second degree and in-laws (IGR art 2).
• International advance agreements are open to the economic operators with an international link listed in DD 116/2026 article 2: foreign control or participation, specified cross-border receipts or payments, a foreign permanent establishment, or a San Marino permanent establishment of a non-resident (DD 116/2026, art 2).

2. Rates, bands and thresholds

Item	Amount	Tax year	Source
Corporate rate on an upward adjustment	18% (tax years 2026-2030)	2026	Law 141/2025, art 54(6)
Sole trader and professional rate on an upward adjustment	18% separate rate (tax years 2026-2030)	2026	Law 141/2025, art 54(6)
Significant influence	20% or more of voting rights, directly or indirectly	2026	IGR art 2
APA fee, group turnover below 50 million	10,000 per application or counterparty State	2026	DD 116/2026, art 3(1)(a)
APA fee, group turnover 50 million to below 100 million	30,000	2026	DD 116/2026, art 3(1)(b)
APA fee, group turnover 100 million or more	50,000	2026	DD 116/2026, art 3(1)(c)
APA fee reductions	Halved for a unilateral agreement; halved for a renewal	2026	DD 116/2026, art 3(2)-(3)
APA duration	Five tax periods from the period in which the taxpayer signs	2026	DD 116/2026, art 5(2)
Ordinary tax ruling (interpello) reply	Within 60 days of receipt	2026	IGR art 123

The fee bands are not documentation or country-by-country reporting thresholds.

3. The base

Normal value. Normal value is the price or consideration generally charged for goods and services of the same or similar kind, in free competition, at the same trading stage, at the time and place of the transaction, or the nearest time and place (IGR art 6(1)). The Tax Office can refer to price lists and tariffs in use in the market (IGR art 6(2)). Property is valued from prior sales and valuations and local market prices; listed securities at the average price of the last month; unlisted shares by net assets (IGR art 6(3)-(4)).

Workpaper.

1. Map ownership, voting rights, agreements, management influence and family links; keep the evidence for the statutory relationship.
2. List each transaction: goods, services, financing, guarantees, intangibles, asset transfers and dealings with permanent establishments. Reconcile contracts, actual conduct, functions, risks and assets to the ledger.
3. Select comparables meeting the article 6 tests (same or similar goods or services, same trading stage, same time and place) and record the method, adjustments and data source.
4. Adjust the affected period. An understated receipt or an overstated cost each increases income.

Downward adjustments. A reduction in income is allowed only (a) under a mutual agreement procedure or competent-authority agreement, or (b) on the taxpayer's request after a definitive arm's-length upward adjustment by a State with an in-force tax treaty allowing adequate exchange of information, in the manner set by Tax Office circular (IGR arts 30(4-bis), 46(4)). A foreign assessment does not by itself allow a reduction on the San Marino return.

4. Deadlines and filing

• Report the adjusted income in the ordinary IGR return, due 31 July after the tax year (IGR art 93(1)).
• APA application. Bilateral and multilateral applications state whether retroactive effect is sought. Optional pre-filing cannot be anonymous, and information supplied during the procedure can be disclosed to the foreign authorities involved (DD 116/2026, arts 1(3), 4). Withdrawal or closure without agreement gives no fee refund (DD 116/2026, art 3).
• APA effect. The agreement binds from the period in which the taxpayer signs, for five tax periods (DD 116/2026, art 5(2)). On request it can reach back to earlier periods, as far as the period in which the application was filed, if the same facts and law applied, the article 115 assessment period is still open and no audit has started; bilateral and multilateral applications must ask for this in the application (DD 116/2026, art 5(3)-(4)). The Tax Office can still assess matters outside the agreement. A Tax Office circular sets the implementation and monitoring rules (DD 116/2026, art 6).
• Scope of an APA. Normal-value methods, entry and exit values, treaty permanent-establishment status and profit attribution, and specified cross-border income (DD 116/2026, art 1).

5. Penalties and interest

There is no separate transfer-pricing penalty. An upward adjustment on assessment carries the ordinary IGR penalties for the return or record failure (IGR arts 138-139) and late interest at the legal rate plus 2 points from the original due date (IGR art 128). Paying an assessment within 60 days halves the penalties (IGR art 129).

6. Cross-border points

• Corresponding (downward) adjustments need a treaty partner with adequate information exchange and a definitive foreign adjustment, or a mutual agreement (section 3).
• APAs cover permanent-establishment status and profit attribution and entry and exit values on migration (DD 116/2026, art 1).
• Withholding on payments abroad (interest 13%, services 20%, rentals 10%) applies on the price actually paid: see sm-cross-border.

7. Two worked examples that recompute

Example 1: underpriced sale to a sister company

A San Marino company sells goods to a company under the same parent for 90,000. Comparable independent sales show a normal value of 100,000. Upward adjustment 10,000; additional 2026 IGR at 18% = 1,800.

name: San Marino 2026 normal-value adjustment on a related sale
inputs:
  recorded_related_sale: 90000
  normal_value: 100000
  corporate_rate_2026: 0.18
steps:
  upward_income_adjustment: normal_value - recorded_related_sale
  additional_igr: upward_income_adjustment * corporate_rate_2026
expected:
  upward_income_adjustment: 10000
  additional_igr: 1800

A cost-plus check uses the same base: eligible costs 100,000 with an 8% markup give profit 8,000 and revenue 108,000, a margin on sales of 7.41%. The 8% is the case's comparable result, not a San Marino safe harbour.

Example 2: APA fees by band and agreement type (edge case)

A group with statutory turnover of 60 million applies for a bilateral APA with two States: 30,000 for each State, 60,000 in total. A different group with turnover of exactly 100 million falls in the top band (100 million or more), so a unilateral APA costs half of 50,000: 25,000.

name: San Marino 2026 APA fee bands, bilateral and unilateral
inputs:
  middle_band_fee: 30000
  top_band_fee: 50000
  counterparty_states: 2
  unilateral_fraction: 0.50
steps:
  bilateral_fees_middle_band: middle_band_fee * counterparty_states
  unilateral_fee_top_band: top_band_fee * unilateral_fraction
expected:
  bilateral_fees_middle_band: 60000
  unilateral_fee_top_band: 25000

8. Ask the client first

1. Group chart with voting rights, control agreements and family relationships.
2. List of related-party transactions in 2026 with contracts and amounts.
3. Functions, risks and assets of each party, and the pricing method used.
4. Any foreign tax adjustment on the same transactions, and whether it is final.
5. Group turnover (for the APA fee) and whether an APA or ruling exists.

Sources

Source	URL	Read on
Law 166/2013 (IGR), official coordinated text updated to 22 December 2025: arts 2, 6, 30, 46, 93, 123, 128-129, 138-139	https://www.consigliograndeegenerale.sm/on-line/documento17086436.html	2026-10-30
Delegated Decree 116/2026 (international advance agreements), arts 1-6	https://www.bollettinoufficiale.sm/on-line/RicercaBU?operation=getDocBU&id=26a68bf4326bc216b251bc3af7fd385bc9f7c7a0	2026-10-30
Law 141/2025 of 12 November 2025, art 54(6)	https://www.consigliograndeegenerale.sm/on-line/home/archivio-leggi-decreti-e-regolamenti/documento17155359.html	2026-10-30

Not yet confirmed: whether the unilateral and renewal halvings combine on a unilateral renewal (the decree states both without saying); the Tax Office circular on downward adjustments and its deadlines; the DD 116/2026 implementing circular; any documentation (master file or local file) duty or country-by-country reporting threshold.

Contributed by Michael Cutajar.