Transfer pricing is present at all occasions when two companies belonging to the same group proceed to commercial operations between them, and determine a price per transaction. This pricing in itself is not illegal or abusive, but its manipulation could be illegal or abusive, if the target is obtaining tax benefits. For determining if this price is established pursuant to the market value principle, the tax authorities require the preparation of the transfer pricing file.

The principle of the market value consists in the fact that the price requested by one of the affiliated parties to the other one for a certain product/service must be similar with the price requested in the same conditions to a third independent party on an open market and in conditions of honest competition.