Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Dow Chemical Loses Appeal on Royalty and Depreciation Expenses

The Fifth Circuit ruled today on appeal that Dow Chemical was not entitled to royalty and depreciation expenses related to two partnerships that were designed by Gold Sachs.  The Court had found that the transactions related to the partnerships were shams or tax shelters.  The total tax benefit that was lost by Dow was approximately $2.0 billion.  The Appeals court remanded it back to the District Court to determine whether the substantial valuation and gross valuation misstatement penalties were appropriate.