Altera charged $27 million by US IRS for employee cost transfer pricing

International Tax Review is part of Legal Benchmarking Limited, 1-2 Paris Garden, London, SE1 8ND

Copyright © Legal Benchmarking Limited and its affiliated companies 2026

Accessibility | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Modern Slavery Statement

Altera charged $27 million by US IRS for employee cost transfer pricing

The IRS is demanding $27 million from tech company Altera because it says the company wrongly booked employee stock-based compensation in the US where it is tax deductible.

altera150.jpg

Wrapped-up in the dispute is the company’s use of its Cayman Islands unit, where the IRS argues the company should have split its employee costs between 2004 and 2007, rather than booking them all in the US and claiming the full tax deduction.

Altera is challenging the IRS rules penned in 2003 that say stock-based compensation should be shared between a US parent company and a subsidiary because the rulings are impossible for companies to follow. The company is seeking for the court to rule the 2003 rules invalid.

more across site & shared bottom lb ros

More from across our site

CSR initiatives can sometimes venture into virtue signalling, but Ryan’s tax literacy event for schoolchildren was a genuine and necessary endeavour
Grant Thornton advanced plans to integrate its Australian firm into its US arm, as tax developments spanned law firm hires, aviation levies and digital services taxes
A new focus on early intervention and increased AI use is transforming how tax authorities are approaching TP audits, though capacity-constrained jurisdictions risk falling behind
The French administration has used AI to detect undeclared swimming pools and verandas but always includes a human in the loop, the AI in Tax Forum heard
The UK tax authority’s deputy director of large business also reassured taxpayers that HMRC will not ‘nitpick’ returns
Sucafina’s tax chief was speaking at the ITR Pillar 2 Forum in London alongside experts from HMRC and other organisations
India’s Supreme Court rattled cross‑border structuring with its Tiger Global ruling. Subsequent rule changes narrowed the impact, but significant risks around GAAR, substance and treaty access persist
The UK-based big four spin-off firm has hired Marc Lien, who declared that most AI in professional services today is ‘cosmetic’
Projected revenue losses and exemption requests are harming the project’s capability and viability
HMRC secured lengthy prison sentences in a major payroll VAT fraud case, while law firms announced tax promotions and hires
Gift this article