Microsoft served with $29-billion tax bill

The technology company, Microsoft has revealed that in September it was notified that it is seeking an additional tax payment of US$28.9-billion, plus penalties and interest for tax years from 2004 to 2013 by the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

The company said the IRS notices relate to an ongoing dispute between the company and the US tax authority, which is auditing how Microsoft allocated its profit among different countries and jurisdictions.

Based in Redmond, Washington, Microsoft said it has since changed its practices so that “issues raised by the IRS are relevant to the past but not to our current practices”, according to a Microsoft blog.

The tech giant believes that any taxes owed after the audit would be reduced by up to $10-billion based on tax laws passed by former President Donald Trump. It also mentioned that it disagrees with the IRS’s findings and plans to dispute them, first in an internal IRS proceeding and then later, if necessary, in courts.

The IRS said it is prevented by US law from confirming or denying whether it is auditing any taxpayer.