Por redacción de Sin Comillas

El Servicios de Rentas Internas de Estados Unidos (IRS, por sus siglas en inglés) le está reclamando a la farmacéutica Amgen Inc (AMGN.O) el pago de $5,100 millones en impuestos atrasados ​​más penalidades ($2,000 millones), que suman $7,100 millones y que está relacionado con la contabilidad de ganancias en Puerto Rico y Estados Unidos entre los años 2013 a 2015. La compañía recibió el aviso del IRS el 18 de abril y ha incluido una nota en los estados financiero del primer trimestre de este año.

Amgen ya había mencionado la disputa (que tiene que ver con “transfer pricing”) con el IRS en los estados financieros del segundo trimestre del año pasado que se publicaron en el mes de octubre. En ese momento, la farmacéutica había presentado una petición ante el Tribunal Fiscal de Estados Unidos (US Tax Court) para impugnar la reclamación. La compañía someterá otra petición, que espera que se consolide con la anterior, y dice que anticipa que la disputa tardará años en resolverse.

Amgen ha dicho que “impugnará enérgicamente los ajustes y sanciones” propuestos por el IRS para el período 2010-15. “Amgen confía en su posición en la disputa y en el nivel de reservas que la Compañía ha establecido”, señaló en un comunicado.

Amgen’s allocation of profit between its U.S. and Puerto Rico entities appropriately recognizes the key contributions made by the Company’s Puerto Rico subsidiary. The IRS position fails to adequately account for the importance of these value drivers. The proposed adjustments would result in Amgen’s Puerto Rico subsidiary earning little or no profit from its operations despite the value of and risk associated with its contributions.

Los “Transfer Pricing” son los precios que una entidad le cobra a otra entidad relacionada por bienes y servicios cuando ambas están en jurisdicciones diferentes.

En el primer trimestre, la compañía de biotecnología informó ingresos de $6,200 millones, un aumento de 6% respecto al año pasado. Las ganancias disminuyeron un 10%, hasta $1,476 millones ($2.68 por acción).

Amgen Inc. es una compañía de biotecnología con sede central en Thousand Oaks. La compañía tiene operaciones en Juncos, Puerto Rico desde 1980, donde ha hecho inversiones ascendentes a $4,000 millones. Actualmente emplea a unas 2,400 personas en la Isla.

Los estados financieros del año pasado ya incluían una nota sobre los cargos en disputa:

In 2017, we received a Revenue Agent Report (RAR) and a modified RAR from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for the years 2010, 2011 and 2012 proposing significant adjustments that primarily relate to the allocation of profits between certain of our entities in the United States and the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico. We disagreed with the proposed adjustments and calculations and pursued a resolution with the IRS administrative appeals office. As previously reported, we were unable to reach resolution with the IRS appeals office. In July 2021, we filed a petition in the U.S. Tax Court to contest two duplicate Statutory Notices of Deficiency (Notices) for 2010, 2011 and 2012 that we received in May and July 2021. The duplicate Notices seek to increase our U.S. taxable income by an amount that would result in additional federal tax of approximately $3.6 billion, plus interest. Any additional tax that could be imposed would be reduced by up to approximately $900 million of repatriation tax previously accrued on our foreign earnings. In any event, we firmly believe that the IRS’s positions in the Notices are without merit and we will vigorously contest the Notices through the judicial process.
In addition, in 2020, we received an RAR and a modified RAR from the IRS for the years 2013, 2014 and 2015 also proposing significant adjustments that primarily relate to the allocation of profits between certain of our entities in the United States and the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, similar to those proposed for the years 2010, 2011 and 2012. We disagree with the proposed adjustments and calculations and are pursuing resolution with the IRS administrative appeals office. We are currently under examination by the IRS for the years 2016, 2017 and 2018. We are also currently under examination by a number of other state and foreign tax jurisdictions.
Final resolution of these complex matters is not likely within the next 12 months. We believe our accrual for income tax liabilities is appropriate based on past experience, interpretations of tax law, application of the tax law to our facts and judgments about potential actions by tax authorities; however, due to the complexity of the provision for income taxes and uncertain resolution of these matters, the ultimate outcome of any tax matters may result in payments substantially greater than amounts accrued and could have a material adverse impact on our condensed consolidated financial statements. We are no longer subject to U.S. federal income tax examinations for the years ended on or before December 31, 2009.