Beverages giant The Coca-Cola Company is fighting more than $170 million in taxes imposed by the Australian Tax Office, which alleges profits were diverted offshore via favourable deals with its local affiliate for branding, trademarks and formulas.
The ATO assessed The Coca-Cola Company (Coke) owes $173.8 million in diverted profits tax for the combined 2018 and 2019 years. The ATO issued two penalty notices to the global company in August 2022, for $85.2 million and $88.6 million respectively, which are now being challenged in the Federal Court of Australia.