AstraZeneca settles £505m tax dispute
AstraZeneca has paid Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) £505m to settle a tax dispute.
The Anglo-Swedish drugs company owes the Government over so-called transfer pricing – the price at which a group sells goods or services from one section to another.
Astra will pay £350m next month and a second installment of £155m in March next year.
The tax claims go as far back as far as 1996.
HMRC is cracking down on internal transfers of expenses or profits.
The compamy said in a statement: “AstraZeneca has provided in its accounts for the outcome of this issue, at the heart of which are complex transfer price considerations that have taken many years to resolve.”