Royalty benchmarking for technical know-how requires reliable...

Royalty benchmarking for technical know-how requires reliable comparable uncontrolled transactions before applying the Comparable Uncontrolled Price method. Where royalty payments are interrelated with manufacturing and other international transactions, and no evidence establishes an independent royalty transaction or supports CUP comparables, entity-level aggregation under the Transactional Net Margin Method is appropriate; a benefit test alone cannot justify a nil arm's length price. Consistency also requires Revenue to follow an earlier transfer-pricing determination where the royalty agreement, rates, and material facts remain unchanged. The transfer-pricing adjustment on royalty payments was deleted and the Revenue's appeals were dismissed.