Coca-Cola Co. said Friday it will pay $6 billion in back taxes and interest to the Internal Revenue Service while it appeals the federal Tax Court’s final ruling in the 17-year-old case.
The Atlanta-based beverage giant said it will continue to fight and believe it will win its legal dispute over taxes and interest the IRS says it owes from 2007, 2008 and 2009.
“The company looks forward to the opportunity to initiate the appeals process and will pay the agreed liability and interest as part of that process,” the company said in a statement. Coca-Cola spokesman Scott Liss declined to provide further comment to The Associated Press .
U.S. Tax Court Judge Albert Lauber issued a two-sentence ruling and order Friday that concluded the case. In December 2015, the company said it had notified the IRS that it owed $3.3 billion in excess federal taxes and interest over three years, and the dispute headed to court shortly after.
In a statement on Friday, Coca-Cola accused the IRS of changing the way the company calculates U.S. income based on more than $9 billion in profits from foreign licensees and affiliates.
An IRS spokesman did not immediately return a phone message Friday from The Associated Press about the case.
In a 2015 SEC filing, Coca-Cola said it had used the same method for calculating U.S. taxable income from foreign subsidiaries for nearly 30 years.
In a company quarterly report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday that included guidance to investors, the company said it believed the IRS and Lauber “are reallocating income earned by the company’s foreign licensees.” misunderstanding and misuse of applicable regulations.”
The publicly traded company said it expects “some or all of the $6 billion plus accrued interest to be refunded” if Coca-Cola wins its appeal. It has 90 days to file appeal documents.
Last week, the company raised its full-year sales guidance due to higher product prices after reporting better-than-expected second-quarter results.
