The new transfer pricing regulation, which will become mandatory from 2026, can already be applied to the 2025 tax year—for example, by allowing taxpayers to omit local documentation for transactions below HUF 150 million. Although this may seem beneficial at first glance, in practice it tends to increase risks.
.png "Is it worth applying the new transfer pricing rules for 2025?")
It may be risky to apply the new transfer pricing regulation already for 2025.
The year 2025 is a transitional period: while the new rules can be applied to local documentation, the transfer pricing reporting (ATP) and the master file are still governed by the previous regulations. This creates a dual compliance environment, which may increase the need for explanations and reconciliations during a tax audit.
Benchmarking is mandatory even if documentation can be omitted.
It is important to note that although local documentation may be omitted for transactions below HUF 150 million, benchmarking analyses remain mandatory for all related-party transactions. As a result, the administrative burden does not decrease in practice: the analysis must still be prepared, and ATP reporting must still be completed.
NAV risk analysis based on transfer pricing reporting (ATP data).
Another risk is that the tax authority primarily relies on ATP data for its risk analysis. In the absence of local documentation, it may be more difficult to defend pricing during an audit, as a structured and coherent explanation is missing.
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A further key challenge is the stricter segmentation requirement under the new rules, which requires profitability to be assessed at the transaction level rather than on an aggregated basis. For many companies, this poses significant practical difficulties and may result in inconsistencies between documentation and ATP data in 2025.
Overall, early adoption of the new rules for 2025 is generally not recommended. While it may be justified in certain simple cases or as part of a conscious preparation strategy, for most businesses it is safer and more predictable to maintain the current system and prepare for the mandatory transition in 2026.
