Intel, the US technology giant, has been handed a 643-million-dollar bill by tax authorities in Denmark over its disputed sale of a Danish company, the Jyllands-Posten daily reported Tuesday.
The tax authorities want Intel to hand over 3.6 billion kroner (483 million euros) in unpaid taxes, alleging it sold the Danish technology firm Giga to one of its subsidiaries for a price well below the market rate, it reported.
When a company completes a transaction with itself or one of its subsidiaries, it is bound by Danish law to pay the current market price.
The aim is to prevent any capital gains when those assets are resold from being transferred to countries with more advantageous tax regimes.
Intel, which originally bought Giga for 9.4 billion kroner in 2000, sold the company to a subsidiary for 1.9 billion kroner two years later.
Investigators argue the actual value of that deal should have been 8.0 billion kroner more, a sum that would have incurred taxes of close to 2.5 billion kroner, the newspaper said.
Authorities are also claiming interest on the unpaid tax bill, which brings the amount owed to 3.6 billion kroner.
Intel disputes those claims and has already filed an appeal in the Danish courts, the Jyllands-Posten reported.
When contacted by AFP, the Danish tax authorities declined to comment on the reports.
(c) 2009 AFP
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