Merck settles tax dispute with the IRS with massive payout after 14 years of deliberations
Accountancy Age, 15 Feb 2007
Pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co has paid the US taxman $2.3bn (£1.2bn) to settle a tax dispute that has lasted 14 years.
The settlement is one of the biggest in US history, with GlaxoSmithKline paying the Internal Revenue Service $3.4bn last year – the highest on record.
Merck's settlement resolves around $3.5bn in tax liabilities, the company said in a regulatory filing.
The dispute centred on a partnership transaction in 1993 and the use of royalty and expenses claimed as deductions against the company's tax returns between 1994 and 2001.
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