Coca-Cola Co. said Friday it will pay $6 billion in back taxes and interest to the Internal Revenue Service as it appeals a final ruling by a federal tax court in a case that goes back 17 years.
The Atlanta beverage giant said it will continue the fight and is confident it will win the legal dispute arising from taxes and interest the company owes the IRS from 2007, 2008 and 2009.
“The company looks forward to the opportunity to begin the appeal process and, as part of that process, will pay the agreed-upon liability and interest,” it said in a statement. Coca-Cola spokesman Scott Leith declined to comment further to The Associated Press.
U.S. Tax Judge Albert Lauber issued a two-sentence ruling and an order Friday ending his look at the case. The dispute reached the court in December 2015, shortly after the company said it had notified the IRS that it had a debt of $3.3 billion more in federal taxes and interest for those three years.
In a statement Friday, Coca-Cola accused the IRS of changing the way the company calculated U.S. revenue based on profits of more than $9 billion from foreign licensees and subsidiaries.
An IRS spokesman did not immediately respond to a telephone message from AP about the matter on Friday.
Coca-Cola said in a 2015 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it has used the same method to calculate the taxable U.S. income of foreign subsidiaries for nearly 30 years.
In a company quarterly report In a filing with the SEC on Monday, which included guidance for investors, the company said it believes the IRS and Lauber “misinterpreted and misapplied applicable regulations in redistributing income earned by the Company’s foreign licensees.”
The publicly traded company said it expected to repay “some or all of (the $6 billion), plus accrued interest” if Coca-Cola wins its appeal. It has 90 days to file appeal documents.
Last week, the company raised its full-year revenue forecast after reporting a stronger than expected second quarterfueled by price increases of products.
