## G.5 Economic Ownership of Intellectual Property Products: Recording of Intra MNE Transactions

## Source details

**Canonical URL:** [G.5 Economic Ownership of Intellectual Property Products: Recording of Intra MNE Transactions](https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/data/statistics/bpm6/gztt/g5-questionnaire.pdf)

## Other formats

- [Markdown version](/-/media/files/data/statistics/bpm6/gztt/g5-questionnaire.pdf.md)
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### Purpose and Instructions
- Purpose: Collect coordinated responses from national agencies responsible for national accounts and balance of payments compilation on the determination of economic ownership of intellectual property products (IPPs) among units of a Multinational Enterprise (MNE) and the recording of related transactions.
- Coordination guidance: Recommend coordinated answers between National Statistics Office and Central Bank; if only one agency responds, indicate which area of macroeconomic statistics the response refers to.
- Response format: Click check boxes or type in framed textboxes; only one response expected even if survey reaches multiple contacts.
- Contact emails: SNA-Globalization@imf.org and copy sna@un.org.

### Key concepts and context
- Definition scope: Intellectual property products (IPPs) include fixed assets such as computer software and databases, research and development (R&D), entertainment, literary and artistic originals, mineral exploration, and evaluation.
- Accounting treatment: Both the 2008 SNA and BPM6 treat IPPs (originals, license to reproduce, and copies) as produced assets.
- Complications: IPP assets created at one MNE location may be funded by affiliates elsewhere, traded, used as inputs into production of other goods and services, or have legal ownership assigned to a special purpose entity (SPE).
- Economic ownership determination: Change in ownership, from the economic point of view of transfer of all risks, rewards, rights and responsibilities of ownership, may not be straightforward for MNEs.
- Related asset categories: Intangible assets such as marketing assets are considered non-produced assets in the 2008 SNA and are only included on the balance sheet when their value can be derived from explicit transactions; Guidance Note G.9 “Payments for Non-Produced Assets (Marketing Assets)” revisits whether marketing assets should be considered produced assets.
- Possible future changes: The asset boundary may be extended in the next update of the SNA as discussed by the Digitalization Task Team.

### Options for recording economic ownership and preferred approach
- Five options were reviewed for recording economic ownership of IPPs among MNE units.
- Preferred approach: Option 4 — a more nuanced approach based on the Guide to Measuring Global Production (GMGP) decision tree — is favored.
- Rationale for Option 4: Assigns economic ownership of IPPs across an MNE group based on risk and rewards (decision-tree approach).

### Specific recommendations and positions raised in the questionnaire
- Question framing: Participants are asked whether for previously produced IPP, economic ownership (parent, producer, production affiliate) depends on the underlying arrangement and a default solution cannot be considered (Yes/No).
- Option 4 evaluation: Respondents are asked to rate Agreement with “Option 4 - the GMGP Decision Tree is a useful tool” on a five-point scale: Strongly disagree; Disagree; Neutral; Agree; Strongly agree.
- SPEs and IPP ownership:
  - Statement: Since SPEs are considered institutional units, in the case of an SPE holding IPP assets (node 1.2.2 of GMGP Decision Tree) the recommendation is that the SPE is deemed the economic owner of the IPP asset.
  - Respondents are asked to indicate agreement on a five-point scale: Strongly disagree; Disagree; Neutral; Agree; Strongly agree.
  - Note: This alignment is in accordance with Guidance Note 4 “Treatment of SPEs and Residency of the GZTT” and the IMF’s Operational Guidelines on SPEs.
- Materiality questions:
  - Are intra-MNE flows of IPPs material in your jurisdiction? (Yes/No)
  - Are SPEs that own IPPs material in your jurisdiction? (Yes/No)
- BEPS alignment question:
  - With BEPS requirement that substance is aligned with value creating activities, have you seen evidence of greater coincidence of economic ownership and legal ownership of IPPs than was the case previously (i.e., when the OECD Handbook on Intellectual Property Products was published in 2010)? (Yes/No)
  - Respondents can provide country experience comments.
- Institutional practices:
  - Does your institution have an organizational unit (often called large case units (LCUs)) responsible for consistency analysis of MNEs? (Yes/No)
- Testing the GMGP Decision Tree:
  - Have you undertaken any testing of the GMGP Decision Tree? (Yes/No)
  - If Yes: provide brief summary of results.
  - If No: asked whether you plan to undertake testing in the future (Yes/No); if Yes, specify when and whether willing to share results.
- Additional input:
  - Open question: Do you have any other comments on the guidance note?
  - Publication consent: Do you give consent that your response to this questionnaire can be published? (Yes/No)

### Conditional logic and follow-up items captured in the questionnaire
- If respondent answers No to Question 3A, a textbox requests specification of why.
- If respondent answers Strongly disagree or Disagree to the SPE ownership recommendation (Question 5A), a textbox requests specification of why.
- If respondent answers No to institutional unit question (9A), a textbox requests specification of why.
- If respondent answers No to testing GMGP Decision Tree (10A), a textbox requests specification of why.
- Conditional items solicit plans for future testing, summaries of testing results, and willingness to share results.

### Administrative fields requested from respondents
- Country
- Institution/Organization
- Name
- Position/Title
- Email
- Area of macroeconomic statistics the response concerns (National Accounts; Balance of Payments; Both National Accounts and Balance of Payments)
- Relevance assessment for the topic (High relevance; Medium relevance; Low relevance; Not relevant) with a textbox for arguments.

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_Source: https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/data/statistics/bpm6/gztt/g5-questionnaire.pdf_