An Australian subsidiary of U.S. energy giant Chevron Corp. lost a court appeal on Friday against a 340 million Australian dollar ($260 million) tax bill in a ruling with ramification for how multinational corporations transfer money.
Three judges of the Australian Federal Court unanimously rejected Chevron Australia’s appeal against tax assessments for five years ending in 2008.
The court found the company had reduced its Australian tax cost through 9 percent tax-deductible interest payments on a $2.5 billion loan from U.S.-based subsidiary Chevron Texaco Funding Corp., which had borrowed the money at a lower rate.
