Symantec Faces Once Again Tax Problems

After a dispute with Internal Revenue Service regarding taxes for 2003 - 2004 fiscal years, Symantec was successful in negotiating a settlement. This means it will only have to pay 36 million dollars, although the IRS contended that it owed 100 million dollars.

IRS sustained that the 100 million $ represented Symantec's total debts, comprising back taxes, penalties and interest related to transfer pricing between the Cupertino based company and one of its foreign subsidiaries.

Symantec stated that the settlement and the paid taxes will be reflected in the balance sheet for the first quarter that will end in June.

Meanwhile, the company is appealing another IRS audit that has it owing 900 million dollars in back taxes. The IRS claim is tied with Veritas, a company which marketed enterprise data backup software before being taken over by Symantec.

Immediately following Veritas's acquisition, Symantec suffered a stock value drop, thus rising questions about its capacity to assimilate the data storage company.