More Tax Trouble for Big Tech?

Big tech seems to be having some tax woes lately. 

First, there are the efforts by EU antitrust authorities to recover what they say is tens of billions’ worth of back taxes, as well as the new “digital tax” imposed by France, over which U.S. President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron are currently sparring. 

Now, tech companies could end up paying billions in additional taxes depending on how a long-running dispute between an Intel subsidiary and the IRS turns out, The Wall Street Journal reports. It centers around Altera, an Intel division, having its taxable income increased by about $80 million due to a complicated statute that governs how much of a multinational’s revenue is taxed at U.S. rates vs. foreign rates. 

Whether a circuit court hears this case, and how it interprets arcane tax procedures, could in turn lead to other tech firms being hit with higher tax bills. That would be another blow in what has been a very bad year for big tech firms.