Ms. Mirga has worked extensively on many of ECS’ projects in the transfer pricing area.  She is responsible for developing the data needed to derive arm’s length intercompany prices and for conducting thorough analyses of company financial information.  Her work in this area has involved the valuation of intangible property, which has included the study of numerous trademark and technology licensing agreements, as well as the valuation of tangible property and services.  Her work has included projects that evaluated whether intercompany transfer prices were consistent with arm’s length expectations in cases where companies had undertaken a significant restructuring of their international operations.  Other projects have involved determining buy-in payments for technology contributed to intercompany cost sharing arrangements, as well as analyzing the basis for sharing future development costs.

Ms. Mirga directs many of ECS’ transfer pricing documentation studies that taxpayers must prepare in order to fulfill the requirements of IRC Section 6662 regulations.  She has also prepared non-US transfer pricing documentation studies designed to comply with the requirements of foreign tax authorities (e.g., Canada, Mexico) and the guidelines of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.  In addition, she has prepared written reports for use by taxpayers, the Internal Revenue Service, and foreign tax authorities at the audit stage, the litigation stage, and in support of Advance Pricing Agreements.  She has worked with clients in many industries, including pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, food and beverages, oilfield services, semiconductors, and consumer electronics.

Ms. Mirga advises clients on Customs issues, including the classification of goods under the Harmonized Tariff Schedules (HTS) and obtaining statistical breakouts within the HTS, formulating responses to Customs Form 29 requests, requesting rulings from the Customs Service, filing protests, and developing arguments and strategies in connection with Section 516 protests and Court of International Trade proceedings.  Her work in this area includes the valuation issues that can arise in transactions between related parties.

Additionally, Ms. Mirga has assisted clients with respect to their international trade policies.  She has been responsible for the preparation of analyses and statements in connection with proceedings before U.S. trade agencies and the Congress.  Much of this work has been for associations in the footwear, luggage and leather goods, and textile and apparel industries.  She has also provided economic analysis in connection with trade litigation (i.e., antidumping) cases.

Before coming to ECS, Ms. Mirga was the Manager of Research in the International Trade and Economics Department of the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI).  At AISI, Ms. Mirga was the staff representative for a monitoring committee that provided the chief means of communicating industry concerns about the President’s Steel Program to government officials.  She also performed statistical analyses and managed research projects in support of the industry’s trade policy positions.  Prior to her employment at AISI, Ms. Mirga was a French teacher in the Williamsburg-James City County (Virginia) public schools.

Ms. Mirga received her B.A. from the College of William and Mary in Virginia, and her M.B.A. (with a concentration in International Business) from the George Washington University.  She was elected to membership in Beta Gamma Sigma, the business administration honor society.  In 2001, she received a post-MBA Certificate, with a course of study in International Taxation, from the George Washington University.  She is an associate member of the American Bar Association’s Section of Taxation Transfer Pricing Committee, and a Candidate Member of the American Society of Appraisers.

Selected Projects:

• Determination of arm’s length buy-in payments and basis for future cost sharing for companies in various industries (e.g., oilfield services, semiconductors, computers).

• Compilation and analysis of internal and external comparable uncontrolled transactions (CUTs) for the purpose of establishing intercompany royalty rates for trademarks and/or technology that would be consistent with arm’s length royalty rates (various industries, including food & beverages, agricultural products, auto parts, computers, semiconductors, pharmaceuticals).
   
• Analysis of arm’s length cost plus markups to be applied in a number of industries for the provision of various types of services (e.g., manufacturing, marketing, software development, agency services).

• Analysis of arm’s length margins to be earned by distributors in a number of industries (e.g., medical devices, chemicals, food & beverages, pharmaceuticals, industrial products).

• Valuation of consumer product technology purchased by a related party; analysis of arm’s length royalty to be charged for use of the technology.
   
• Preparation of documentation for submission to U.S. Customs demonstrating that transaction value was the appropriate valuation method for merchandise sold among related parties.

Publications and Presentations:

Presentation and Participation in Panel on “Customs Valuation and Transfer Pricing – Reconciling the Irreconcilable?”, International Trade Update 2005, presented by the Georgetown University Law Center Continuing Legal Education and The American Bar Association Section of International Law and Practice,  Washington, D.C., March 4, 2005.

“Transfer Pricing Considerations in Estimating Fair Market Value,” with Kenneth R. Button, in Robert P. Schweihs, ed., The Handbook of Business Valuation and Intellectual Property Analysis, New York: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2004.

“The Economics of Transfer Pricing,” with Clark Chandler and Irving Plotkin, Tax Management Inc.’s Foreign Income Portfolios, Transfer Pricing:  Economic, Managerial, and Accounting Principles, No. 889, Chapter 4, October 2003.

“Related Party Transactions:  The IRS’ Perspective.”  Presentation to the Customs/Finance and Logistics Seminar of the American Institute for International Steel, Inc., New Orleans, April 3, 2001.

“Transfer Pricing Documentation:  Caveat Emptor,” with Valerie Amerkhail, Tax Management Inc.’s Transfer Pricing Report, vol. 8, no. 8, August 11, 1999.  [Reprinted as “Transfer Pricing Documentation – Future Challenges,” in Tax Management Memorandum, August 30, 1999.]

“Transfer Pricing Documentation—Future Challenges.”  Joint presentation with Valerie Amerkhail to the Tax Management Advisory Board Meeting, New York, July 22, 1999.

“Who’s Buying?  A Profile of Luggage, Business Case, Computer Case, and Personal Leather Goods Consumers in 1996,” Showcase, volume 22, no. 4, August/September 1997, pp. 53-60.

Participation in Panel Discussion on “Update on the Final Cost-Sharing Regulations,” Eighth Annual Spring Conference, International Tax Forum, Washington, D.C., May 16, 1996.

“Customs Issue Paper:  The New Era of Informed Compliance,” ECS White Paper, August 1995.

Appearance before hearings of the Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA) with respect to the Integration of Textile Products into the GATT Agreement, March 20, 1995.  On behalf of the Luggage and Leather Goods Manufacturers of America and the Neckwear Association of America.

Presentation on Trade and Customs Issues to Goody Products, Inc., Callaway Gardens, Georgia, March 30, 1995.

Appearance before the Trade Policy Staff Committee with respect to the Proposed China Retaliation List (Docket No. 301-92), January 1995.  On behalf of the Luggage and Leather Goods Manufacturers of America.

“Uruguay Round Agreement on Textiles and Clothing:  MFA GATT Transition Period,” ECS White Paper, February 1994.

Presentation to the Work Glove Manufacturers Association on Trade and Customs Issues, the Ocean Grand Hotel, Florida, June 11, 1991.