The U.S. Supreme Court today announced a new hearing in a lower court for the Dearborn-based automaker’s tax discrepancies, which stem from Ford paying the Internal Revenue Service for possible underpayments from 1983 until 1989. It was later decided that Ford had actually overpaid its taxes for those years.
DETROIT, MI- Ford Motor Co. may receive $445 million in interest on overpaid taxes from the U.S. government.
The U.S. Supreme Court today announced a new hearing in a lower court for the Dearborn-based automaker’s tax discrepancies, which stem from Ford paying the Internal Revenue Service for possible underpayments from 1983 until 1989. It was later decided that Ford had actually overpaid its taxes for those years.
When a taxpayer or company overpays his taxes, they are generally entitled to interest from the government for the period between the payment and the ultimate refund.
However, Ford and the government disagree about when the interest began. Ford argues that “the date of overpayment” was the date that it first remitted the deposits to the IRS. The Government countered that the date of overpayment was the date that Ford requested that the IRS treat the remittances as payments of tax.
Two lower courts have already agreed with the IRS, according to Bloomberg News.
Click here to read the full ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court (on the last pages).
Michael Wayland covers the automotive industry for MLive. Email him at MWayland@mlive.com & follow him on Twitter @MikeWayland or Google+.