Revenue issues second-biggest tax demand by State to pharma giant

An Irish based pharmaceutical company has been issued with a €1.6bn tax bill by The Revenue Commissioner.

Revenue has issued a tax bill of €1.6b to a major pharmaceutical company.

The assessment is the second largest in Irish history after Apple was ordered to pay €13bn in 2016.

The tax bill served on Dublin-based pharma company Perrigo relates to Elan, a company that was bought by Perrigo five years ago.

Elan sold its interests in a multiple sclerosis drug in 2013 to a company called Biogen for an up-front payment of $3.25bn and a share of future royalties.

According to the Irish Times, the company said that taxes were paid on the profits from the transaction at the corporation tax rate of 12.5%.

However, Revenue argues that Elan was liable at the capital gains tax rate of 33%.

Perrigo has said it disagrees with Revenue and intends to contest the bill.