Tunisia – Transfer Pricing (2025)

Legal framework and scope

Tunisia’s transfer pricing framework rests primarily on Article 48 septies of the code de l’impôt sur le revenu des personnes physiques et de l’impôt sur les sociétés and on reforms introduced by the Finance Act for 2019. Relevant legal provisions include Articles 29 to 33 of Law No. 2018-56 of 27 December 2018 (LF 2019) and Article 15 of Law No. 2020-46 of 23 December 2020 (LF 2021). The 2019 reform was prepared with OECD technical assistance and is accompanied by internal explanatory documents called note commune, notably note commune n°11/2020 for operational aspects and note commune n°13/2020 for documentary obligations. Although domestic law does not explicitly refer to the OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines, the legislative changes were designed to align Tunisia with international standards and OECD good practices.

Arm’s length principle and the role of the OECD Guidelines

The arm’s length principle is expressly recognised under Article 48 septies. Domestic law does not make an explicit textual reference to the OECD Guidelines, yet the 2019 legislative reform and the accompanying note communes were developed with OECD assistance and based on OECD materials. As a result, administrative practice and commentary draw heavily on OECD methodologies and principles even if the statutory text lacks an explicit cross‑reference.

Definition of related parties

The definition of related parties is provided in Article 48 septies (fourth paragraph) of the code de l’impôt sur le revenu des personnes physiques et de l’impôt sur les sociétés. Dependence or control ties are deemed to exist where one enterprise holds directly or through an intermediary more than 50% of the share capital or voting rights of another enterprise or in fact exercises decision‑making power, or where companies are subject to control by the same enterprise or person under the conditions noted above. This definition includes a quantitative threshold (more than 50% of capital or votes) together with concepts of de facto control and common control.

Methods and selection criteria

Domestic law does not set out a binding list of transfer pricing methods in the statutory text, but note commune n°11/2020 provides, by way of guidance and drawing on OECD practice, the commonly used methods: comparable uncontrolled price (CUP), resale price, cost plus, transactional net margin method (TNMM) and profit split. Note commune n°11/2020 requires the enterprise to select the most appropriate method to remunerate the relevant activity consistent with the arm’s length principle and specifies the elements that should guide method selection: strengths and weaknesses of methods, consistency with the nature of the transaction, availability of reliable information to apply the selected method, and the degree of comparability between controlled and independent transactions. Any method chosen can be accepted by the tax administration provided it is justified, coherent with functions, risks and assets, supported by relevant information and implemented through a comparison with free‑market transactions.

Comparability analysis and ranges

Tunisia follows the comparability analysis principles of Chapter III of the OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines through note commune n°11/2020, which details significant comparability factors and stresses that comparisons are meaningful only when the economic characteristics of examined situations are sufficiently comparable or when reasonably reliable comparability adjustments can be made. There is no legal preference for domestic comparables over foreign comparables; instead, the guidance endorses selection of the most reliable comparables available. The tax administration does not use secret comparables and legislation does not require use of an arm’s length range or statistical measures for determining arm’s length remuneration. While the law does not mandate comparability adjustments, the note commune explicitly contemplates that such reasonably reliable adjustments may be made where necessary to neutralise differences between comparables.

Intra‑group services and financial transactions

Domestic law contains no specific rules for intra‑group services, but note commune n°11/2020 advises that for routine services provided by entities not bearing significant risk (for example, subcontractors) the cost plus method is particularly recommended and that the TNMM may also be used for service transactions. There is no simplified approach for low value‑adding services; Article 15 of LF 2021 confirms that no specific guidelines were introduced in this regard. For financial transactions, domestic law does not provide specific transfer pricing guidance, but note commune n°11/2020 indicates that the comparable price method could be applied for interest rates on loans, guarantee fees and similar items. Outside transfer pricing-specific rules, Article 48 (paragraph VII) of the code de l’impôt sur le revenu des personnes physiques et de l’impôt sur les sociétés imposes a limitation on interest deductibility for interest paid to partners on amounts they provide or leave at the company’s disposal: such interest is deductible up to a rate of 8% provided that the interest‑bearing amounts do not exceed 50% of capital and that capital is fully paid; these provisions apply also to amounts made available between group subsidiaries but do not apply to banks, in which case the interest rate considered is that applied to loans with third parties.

Documentation and reporting requirements

Tunisia has a three‑level documentation framework and specific reporting obligations. Article 59 (paragraph II bis) of the code de l’impôt sur le revenu des personnes physiques et de l’impôt sur les sociétés together with note commune n°13/2020 require preparation of a master file, a local file and a country‑by‑country report consistent with Annexes I to III of Chapter V of the OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines. A specific annual transfer pricing return must also be filed electronically in the format prescribed by the tax administration. Companies resident or established in Tunisia with annual revenues excluding tax equal to or exceeding TND 200 million that conduct transactions with related Tunisian or foreign entities must prepare documentation supporting their transfer pricing policies (master and local files); the production schedule for this documentation is aligned with the filing schedule of the annual corporate income tax return and companies must present the documents to tax authorities at the outset of an in‑depth audit. If documents are not presented or are incomplete, the taxpayer receives a formal notice to produce or complete them within 40 days. The local file must be prepared in Arabic or French while the master file may be in Arabic, French or English. Country‑by‑country reporting (CbCR) applies to entities established in Tunisia that are part of a multinational group whose consolidated annual revenue excluding tax in the preceding fiscal year is at least TND 1,636 million (approximately EUR 750 million) and that prepare consolidated financial statements or would be required to do so if their equity interests were publicly traded; the CbCR must be filed electronically within 12 months of the reporting period end and may be prepared in French or English. The annual transfer pricing declaration applies to companies with gross annual turnover equal to or greater than TND 200 million and must be filed electronically within the same period as the corporate tax return; this return is limited to transactions whose annual amounts per transaction category equal or exceed TND 100,000 and may be submitted in Arabic or French.

Penalties, exemptions and materiality thresholds

The Code des droits et procédures fiscaux sets out penalties for documentary and reporting breaches. Failure to present the master file or local file or presenting them incompletely or inaccurately may result in a penalty equal to 0.5% of the amount of the transactions concerned, with a minimum of TND 50,000 per audited fiscal year. Failure to file the country‑by‑country report triggers a penalty of TND 50,000 and any information omitted or provided incompletely or inaccurately in that report attracts a penalty of TND 100 per item of information up to a maximum of TND 10,000. Failure to submit the annual transfer pricing declaration leads to a penalty of TND 10,000 and TND 50 per piece of missing or inaccurate information up to a ceiling of TND 5,000 per fiscal year. Exemptions include domestic companies with annual turnover before tax below TND 200 million (they are not required to prepare transfer pricing documentation), all local transactions between related companies (local transactions are excluded from the local file requirement) and transactions whose annual amount, per transaction category, is less than TND 100,000 (this last exemption applies only to the local file). The annual transfer pricing declaration is limited to companies with turnover equal to or above TND 200 million that control or are controlled by other resident or foreign companies, and the information required is restricted to transactions exceeding TND 100,000 per category.

APAs, MAP and dispute prevention

Tunisia provides for advance pricing agreements (APAs) and mutual agreement procedures (MAPs). Article 35 bis of the code des droits et procédures fiscaux and the arrêté du ministre des finances du 6 août 2019 govern the terms and effects of APAs concerning the method for determining transfer prices between related parties. Under Article 33 of Law No. 2018-56, a resident or established Tunisian company that belongs to a multinational group may request an APA for its future transactions with related companies for a period of three to five years. MAP implementation is governed by note commune n°23/2019 which sets out implementation of the mutual agreement procedure provided for in Tunisia’s double tax treaties; Tunisia also maintains a MAP profile describing practical arrangements.

Safe harbours, year‑end and secondary adjustments

Tunisia has not implemented statutory safe harbours or sectoral regimes providing simplified protection for particular groups of taxpayers or transactions. The jurisdiction does not permit or require year‑end adjustments by taxpayers; however, Tunisia applies secondary (correlative) adjustments where appropriate in the adjustment process.

Attribution of profits to permanent establishments

Tunisia follows the Authorised OECD Approach (AOA) for attributing profits to permanent establishments and all bilateral tax treaties concluded by Tunisia contain a provision equivalent to Article 7 of the OECD Model Tax Convention dealing with business profits. Most Tunisian treaties, however, adopt the older version of Article 7 (i.e. predating the 2010 revisions). Under these treaties and consistent with note commune n°2/2015, profits attributed to a permanent establishment are those the establishment would have earned if it had been an independent enterprise carrying on the same or similar activities under comparable conditions, limited to profits arising from the establishment’s main activity and to exceptional or ancillary income; some treaties allow the concept of attractive force to attach income derived from activities in Tunisia outside the permanent establishment to the profits of the permanent establishment.

Conclusion

Tunisia’s transfer pricing regime has been modernised through the 2019 Finance Act with OECD support and is operationalised via detailed note communes. The legal framework sets clear definitions of related parties, a facts‑and‑circumstances approach to method selection aligned with OECD practice, a three‑tier documentation requirement with specified thresholds, languages and filing deadlines, explicit penalties for non‑compliance, and accessible dispute prevention mechanisms including APAs and MAP. Where the statutory text is silent, the note communes and administrative practice rely on OECD principles and guidance to fill practical gaps.

References

For additional information and access to the OECD country transfer pricing profiles, see https://www.oecd.org/en/topics/sub-issues/transfer-pricing/transfer-pricing-country-profiles.html