KPMG secures services of Revenue expert
KPMG has appointed a senior Inland Revenue employee to its Transfer Pricing Group.
Andrew Hickman, who worked at the Revenue’s International Divivion from 1992, begins working for the Big Five firm today.
Hickman’s arrival will bolster the Transfer Pricing Group at a time of increased scrutiny of the area by tax inspectors. Transfer pricing concerns the rules by which multinational companies put a cost on the movement of goods within their company groups.
During his time at the Revenue, Hickman had responsibility for various issues, including negotiating ‘competent authority’ claims with other jurisdictions and managing the UK’s Advance Pricing Agreement (APA) programme, a key aspect of transfer pricing. This is the method by which companies apply for rulings from the Revenue before engaging in a commercial transaction.
Allan Taylor, KPMG’s Head of Transfer Pricing, said: ‘Transfer Pricing is the area that tax authorities around the world are focusing on. In the UK, under Corporate Tax Self-Assessment, companies have to do much of the work that was previously the responsibility of the Revenue, and it is an increasing administrative burden for them.’