The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on Wednesday said it has signed 26 advance pricing agreements (APAs) in the April-August period. The total APAs entered into by the board now stands at 297, which includes 32 bilateral APAs (BAPAs). APAs were introduced in 2012 by the government to provide tax certainty to those multinational corporations that agree to certain principles relating to the valuation of their cross-border transactions. They are primarily aimed at avoiding transfer pricing disputes arising from cross-border transactions undertaken by MNCs. “Out of these 26 APAs, 1 is a BAPA entered into with the UK and the remaining 25 are unilateral APAs (UAPAs).