US vs. DHL. April 2002, U.S. Court of Appeals

Posted on | By Courts of the US
Category: Financial Transactions, Intangibles - Goodwill Know-how Patents, Valuation - DCF and CUT/CUPs | Tag: , , , ,
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When DHL sold the “DHL” trademark to DHL International, the IRS disagreed with DHL’s evaluation of the arms-length price of the intellectual property and used its authority under Section 482 to reallocate income and impose penalties. DHL appealed the IRS ruling and the tax court upheld the IRS allocation to DHL.

In this decision the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the tax court’s application of Section 482 to the sale of the trademark and the $100 million valuation for the intangible asset, but reversed the tax court’s rejection of a $50 million value of the foreign trademark rights, as asserted by DHL.

 

And the prior decision of the Tax Court

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