The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) claims that Microsoft owes the US treasury $28.9 billion in back taxes, in addition to penalties and interest, AP News reports.
The figure comes after an IRS investigation into Microsoft’s allocation of profits across different countries and jurisdictions between 2004 and 2013.
Companies can reduce their tax burden by reporting lower profits in high-tax regions and higher profits in lower-tax regions, a practice referred to as transfer pricing.
Microsoft disputes this claim and intends to appeal the ruling within the agency, a process that could take several years.
