Part I. The APMA Program – Structure, Composition, and Operation

[Pub. L. 106–170 § 521(b)(2)(A)]

In February of 2012, the former APA Program was moved from the Office of Chief Counsel to the Office of Transfer Pricing Operations, Large Business and International Division of the IRS (TPO) and combined with the United States Competent Authority (USCA) staff responsible for transfer pricing cases, thereby forming the Advance Pricing and Mutual Agreement (APMA) Program. The APMA Program Director, Richard McAlonan, joined the Program in May of 2012.

After the formation of the APMA Program, the team that developed the IRS position in a bilateral or multilateral case and finalized the APA with the taxpayer also became responsible for discussing the case and obtaining an agreement with the treaty partner. This compression of functions into a single APA team has helped to eliminate inefficiencies and decreased the amount of time it takes to reach resolution once a case is set for discussion with the treaty partner.

As of the date of this report, the APMA Program is comprised of 55 team leaders, 26 economists, and 10 senior managers organized in 10 groups (7 team leader groups and 3 economist groups). The team leader groups are organized by country with each group having responsibility for multiple countries. Because of the large volume of cases with certain treaty partners, some countries are the responsibility of more than one group. The APMA Program’s main office is located in Washington, DC, and it also has a significant presence in San Francisco and the Los Angeles area.

During the last quarter of 2013, new proposed revenue procedures governing APA applications and MAP applications were released for public comment in Notice 2013–79, 2013–50 I.R.B. 653, and Notice 2013–78, 2013–50 I.R.B. 633, respectively. These proposed revenue procedures reflect the changes in APMA’s structure, and more importantly, were informed by the cumulative experience of more than 20 years of APA practice in the United States, which has produced more than eleven hundred unilateral and bilateral agreements since 1991.

The model APA agreement, which was last revised significantly in 2009 and is currently under review for future changes, appears in this report as Appendix 1. See Pub. L. 106–170 § 521(b)(2)(B). A list of primary APMA contacts is included as Appendix 2.

Bulletin No. 2014–16 949 April 14, 2014