Another Loss for the Israeli Tax Administration in a Transfer Pricing Business Restructuring Case – Time to Change the Approach? Observations on the Medingo Case

On May 8, 2022, the Tel Aviv-Yafo District Court ruled in favor of the taxpayer in the Medingo case.1 This decision is part of a series of rulings in which the court has dealt with similar problems concerning the adequate transfer pricing (TP) treatment of business restructurings involving intangibles in Israel. In this case, the issue under dispute was whether the transaction as structured by the related parties should be recognized or should be replaced by the assessment made by the Israeli tax administration (ITA). According to the ITA, shortly after the acquisition of the Israeli company (Medingo Ltd.) by the Roche group (Roche), the entirety of the Israeli business (i.e., all the functions, assets, and risks) was transferred to Roche, which gave rise to a capital gains tax. This decision highlights the relevance of having an adequate approach and adopting a case-by-case methodology when dealing with business restructuring cases.