IRS hits Symantec with $1B tax bill

The company allegedly underreported the value of intellectual property

By Robert McMillan

April 18, 2006 12:00 PM ET

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IDG News Service - The U.S. Internal Revenue Service has hit Symantec Corp. with a $1 billion tax bill for allegedly underreporting the value of intellectual property that the software vendor transferred to two Irish subsidiaries.

Symantec was notified of the issue by the IRS in late March, the company said in a regulatory filing dated yesterday.

The IRS claims that both Symantec and Veritas Software Corp. underpriced intellectual property that the two companies licensed to their Irish subsidiaries, said Symantec spokeswoman Genevieve Haldeman. Both Symantec and Veritas, which was purchased by Symantec in 2005, set up the Irish subsidiaries for the purpose of doing business outside of the U.S., she said.

The IRS believes that Symantec owes about $900 million, excluding penalties and interest, in connection with the Veritas claim, which covers the 2000 and 2001 Veritas tax returns. Another $100 million is due in connection with Symantec's fiscal 2003 and 2004 reports.

Symantec does not agree with the IRS's position and plans to appeal the tax assessment, Haldeman said.

Symantec's stock (SYMC) dropped more than 4% following the news and was trading at $15.73 in after-hours trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market's INET exchange.

Reprinted with permission from

IDG.net
Story copyright 2009 International Data Group. All rights reserved.

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