Lenzini Steel: The Impact of Transfer Pricing and Taxes on International Operations

Abstract

ABSTRACT Lenzini Steel is an inter-disciplinary case that uses four inter-company transactions (ICTs) to demonstrate how the cost/managerial concept of transfer pricing can impact financial and/or tax disclosures on an international stage. The goal is to strengthen students' managerial/cost accounting, tax, and/or financial accounting skills by asking them to examine a transfer pricing case from the different technical perspectives. The case tells the story of an Italian parent company with significant cash flow inflexibility. It needs an infusion of cash from its U.S.-based subsidiary to remain viable, while limiting tax exposure. Students may face any or all of these issues: (1) How can the parent company best obtain the cash it so urgently needs? (2) What are the tax consequences of management's decisions to obtain this cash? (3) What are the financial accounting implications of these decisions? (4) How will they communicate potentially bad news? When using the case, instructors can use an integrated approach (consider cost/managerial, financial, and tax accounting issues), or focus on the learning objectives that most align with their course. The case has been successfully used with M.Acc., M.B.A., and E.M.B.A. students to demonstrate the implications of management's transfer pricing decisions, the impact of judgment in critical thinking, and how problem solving represents leadership.