ICA contests ruling by Swedish County Administrative Court
ICA contests ruling by Swedish County Administrative Court
Solna 18 December, 2008
ICA today announced it will contest a ruling by the Swedish County Administrative Court on interest deductions of nearly SEK 1.8 billion made in 2001-2003 by ICA Finans AB related to loans from an Irish subsidiary in the ICA Group.
The County Administrative Court ruled in favor of a decision in 2007 by the Swedish Tax Agency to disallow the deductions made by ICA Finans.
The Swedish Tax Agencys claim amounts to SEK 654 million including penalties. ICA will appeal to the Swedish Administrative Court of Appeal.
"ICA followed all applicable tax rules and the interest deductions were made correctly," said Per Behm, General Counsel for ICA AB.
ICA Finans was wound up in 2003.
For further information, please contact: ICA press office, +46 (0)70-253 66 60
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About ICA The ICA Group (ICA AB) is one of the Nordic regions leading retail companies, with around 2,230 of its own and retailer-owned stores in Sweden, Norway and the Baltic states. The Group includes the retail companies ICA Sverige, ICA Norge and Rimi Baltic. ICA also offers financial services to Swedish customers through ICA Banken. ICA AB is a joint venture 40% owned by Hakon Invest AB and 60% by Royal Ahold N.V. of the Netherlands. According to a shareholder agreement, Royal Ahold and Hakon Invest jointly share a controlling influence over ICA AB. Through Royal Ahold, ICA AB is part of an international retail network. For more information, please visit http://www.ica.se