TP documentation deadlines and penalties: Austria, Germany, Italy 2026
Dr. Raffaele Petruzzi·PhD · LL.M. · M.Sc.TL;DR
Austria: master file at €50M revenue, 30 days on request. Germany: §90(3) AO local file within 30 days, master file at €100M, penalties 5–10% surcharge. Italy: RS106 election ticks the penalty-protection box, 20 days to deliver on request. Country-by-country reporting (CbCR) at €750M consolidated revenue across all three.
What's the EU transfer pricing documentation landscape in 2026?
Three-tier structure on the OECD BEPS Action 13 template: master file (group-level), local file (entity-level), country-by-country report (CbCR) at €750M+ consolidated revenue. The EU TP Directive intended to harmonise the local file across member states stalled in late 2024; for now each member state's own rules apply, and the variance matters.
The 2025–2026 audit cycle is the first to apply the post-Pillar Two information return alongside CbCR. Groups with the GloBE GIR overlap should expect tax authority requests to reconcile the two — the CbCR profit data per jurisdiction, the GloBE-adjusted covered tax, and the local statutory accounts now form a triangulation that audit teams routinely test.
Austria: master file threshold and BMF process
Austria adopted the OECD three-tier model via the Verrechnungspreisdokumentationsgesetz (VPDG). Master file required at €50M consolidated revenue; local file required at the same threshold OR €5M intercompany transactions in the prior year. Both must be delivered to the BMF within 30 days of a formal request.
CbCR follows the OECD threshold (€750M consolidated revenue), filed annually to the BMF within 12 months of fiscal year-end. The Austrian penalty regime is one of the more taxpayer-favourable in Europe: failure-to-file penalties up to €50,000 for CbCR; documentation insufficiency does not trigger automatic penalty surcharges (contrast Germany), but does shift the burden of proof to the taxpayer.
In practice the Austrian BMF audit pattern in 2025–2026 has emphasised the master file's intangibles section — DEMPE consistency, IP ownership, royalty flows. Master files with a thin intangibles narrative are now the most common compliance gap we see in audit defence work for Austrian taxpayers.
Germany: §90(3) AO and the 30-day deadline
Germany requires contemporaneous TP documentation under §90(3) AO. Local file due within 30 days of audit request (reduced from 60 days in 2023). Master file required at €100M group revenue (higher than Austria's threshold). Failure penalties: 5%–10% income surcharge under §162(4) AO, minimum €5,000, maximum €1M.
The German Bundeszentralamt für Steuern (BZSt) operates one of Europe's more aggressive TP audit programmes. The shortened 30-day deadline is the practical lever: groups without genuinely contemporaneous documentation cannot reconstruct it in 30 days, and the penalty applies even where the underlying TP position is defensible. The audit lesson: maintain audit-ready documentation continuously, not annually.
Germany also operates a 'transactional documentation' requirement for exceptional transactions (restructurings, IP migrations, intercompany loans above thresholds). These need contemporaneous documentation prepared by the transaction date, not later — a trap for taxpayers who treat post-deal TP documentation as a year-end exercise.
Italy: RS106 election and the penalty-protection regime
Italy uses an opt-in regime: a taxpayer who elects RS106 status by ticking the box on the annual return and delivering compliant documentation within 20 days of audit request gets penalty protection on any TP adjustment. Without RS106, penalties range from 90% to 180% of the adjustment.
RS106 is one of the few European regimes where the documentation choice is genuinely strategic: filing it costs documentation effort upfront, but eliminates the catastrophic-penalty tail risk. The Italian Agenzia delle Entrate audit programme is moderately active; the penalty rate makes RS106 the default for any group with material Italian intercompany flows.
The Italian local file template (Documentazione TP) is more prescriptive than Austria's or Germany's. The Agenzia publishes the exact structure required, including specific sections on group structure, business description, and economic analysis. Generic OECD-template local files often need restructuring before they qualify as RS106-compliant.
How do the three regimes compare side by side?
| Element | Austria | Germany | Italy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Master file threshold | €50M consolidated revenue | €100M group revenue | €50M (RS106 election) |
| Local file delivery deadline | 30 days on request | 30 days on request (§90(3) AO) | 20 days on request (RS106) |
| CbCR threshold | €750M consolidated | €750M consolidated | €750M consolidated |
| Penalty for documentation failure | Up to €50K + burden shift | 5–10% income surcharge | 90–180% of adjustment (without RS106) |
| Penalty protection mechanism | Compliant documentation | Compliant documentation | RS106 election + compliant documentation |
| Audit aggression (2025–2026) | Moderate, intangibles-focused | High, all transaction types | Moderate, intercompany services-focused |
What about Switzerland and the rest of CEE?
Switzerland has no formal TP documentation requirement, but the SFTA TP task force expects contemporaneous documentation in audit. CEE varies sharply: Poland requires annual documentation under €500K transaction thresholds; Czechia requires master + local file at €40M revenue; Hungary aligned to OECD in 2018; Romania introduced country-by-country reporting in 2022.
Cross-border groups operating in DACH + CEE typically standardise on the highest-bar regime (Germany) for the master file and add country-specific local files. This is the most cost-efficient compliance pattern; the alternative — independent documentation per country — is roughly 3× the maintenance overhead with little practical benefit.
Veelgestelde vragen
Veelvoorkomende vragen
What's the CbCR threshold and who files?
€750 million consolidated group revenue in the prior fiscal year. Filed by the ultimate parent in its country of residence; secondary filing rules apply if the parent jurisdiction does not require CbCR. All EU member states implement the OECD model, with minor variation in deadlines (typically 12 months after fiscal year-end).
Do I file a local file if my group revenue is below €50 million?
In Austria, no — both master and local file are €50M threshold. In Germany, yes for the local file even below the master file threshold, if intercompany transactions are material. In Italy, the RS106 election applies regardless of group size if you want penalty protection. Below the threshold you still need to be able to defend your TP position on audit.
Can I use a single EU master file for all three countries?
Yes, the OECD master file template is harmonised across all three. The local file is jurisdiction-specific. The practical pattern is one master file in English, three local files in the local language plus English where the audit team allows it.
How often must the master file be refreshed?
Annually, by the corporate income tax return filing deadline. Material changes (M&A, new principal entity, intangible migration) trigger an out-of-cycle update. The local file is also annually refreshed; benchmarking studies inside it follow the 3-year refresh cycle.
Meer in deze categorie
European Strategy & Compliance
Amount B implementation 2026: country tracker and OECD automation roadmap
The OECD's simplified return for baseline marketing and distribution is now live in early-adopter jurisdictions. A practitioner's tracker on which countries have elected in, what falls inside scope, and what the automation tool actually does.
14 mei 2026 · 11 min
EU Transfer Pricing Directive 2026: where the harmonisation push stands now
The directive that would have harmonised European TP rules stalled in late 2024 on member-state veto grounds. The replacement programme — softer coordination through the TP Platform — is the live policy track for 2026.
6 mei 2026 · 9 min
FAQ