30 seconds with Erik Knijnenburg, Global Head of Tax & Transfer Pricing, H&M
Erik Knijnenburg, Global Head of Tax & Transfer Pricing at H&M shares his Transfer Pricing insights in our latest 30 Second interview.
What are you currently spending most of your time on?
Preparation of business model to be BEPS ‘proof.
What is the biggest challenge facing Transfer Pricing executives in your particular industry at the moment?
To adjust FAR analysis to the level of possible scrutiny that is expected under the new BEPS approach by tax authorities.
What should a successful post-BEPS transfer pricing strategy look like?
A strategy that prepares for explanations on content being understandable for both tax authorities as for the public debate.
Arm’s length or formulary apportionment?
A mix from both to arrive at an acceptable outcome for parties involved. Substance over form.
Which areas of TP do you think the next wave of transfer pricing controversy will come from?
The (mis) match of TP for customs and TP for direct tax and for indirect taxes.
Which jurisdictions are likely to be keeping the Head of TP awake at night?
Pan-Asia and South America.
What advice would you give an aspiring TP professional?
Stay tuned in to what your company is really all about and embed that critical success into your overall documentation. Or in BEPS terms, document the real deal!
You’re attending and speaking at IBC’s TP Minds 2016 in March, in London. What are you most looking forward to?
That any debate on or off stage goes further than just polite exchange of thoughts.
Tell us a little known fact about yourself.
My background is not at all in taxation, rather I was chosen for this role by central management because of having extensive knowledge about the functioning of the company and the ability to ‘sell’ an idea or position. We have a firm believe that people get things moving not theories or extensive documentation. It is the ‘story-telling’ that gets on to people and make them willing to act.
Erik is speaking at the world’s largest meeting of transfer pricing minds TP International. It takes place in London on the 15th and 16th March 2016, with the workshops taking place in on the 14th and 17th.
