Ford sues IRS for $445 million
Ford is suing the U.S. government’s Internal Revenue Service for $445,292,207 in interest on tax overpayments for 1983 to 1989, 1992 and 1994. Half a billion dollars isn’t much to the IRS, but it could prove very useful to cash-strapped Ford.
“We believe the IRS failed to pay the correct amount of interest,” Ford spokeswoman Marcey Evans told the Detroit News. “We tried to resolve it at the administrative level without success. Because of the size of the amount and the dispute, we had no choice but to file.”
Ford recently made a number of key moves to raise much needed capital. The recent sale of Aston Martin, Jaguar, and Land Rover brought ford billions of dollars, and rumors continue to suggest Volvo is next. Another $445 million would likely help Ford in its quest to return to profitability.
“The IRS’ calculation of […] overpayment interest is not a simple matter of taking the tax underpayment […] and computing interest on that amount,” the lawsuit contends.
“Rather, the IRS recomputes the taxpayer’s account for the specific tax year by sorting all of the transactions in order of the dates they are deemed to be effective and computing interest on the account balance as it is affected from transaction to transaction.”