Local Brazilian news outlets reported Monday that the government has given Vale until the end of this week to accept or reject the terms of a tax amnesty program that would allow the company to almost halve a $14 billion debt and pay it back over the next 15 years.
The program entails Vale only paying roughly US$8.5 billion to Brazil's tax agency, ending a 10-year tax dispute. The Brazilian tax authority claims Vale owes around US$14 billion in unpaid taxes on profits made from operations abroad, including the sale of some foreign subsidiaries between 1996 and 2008.Vale has repeatedly countered that it followed the law, disputing Brazil's finance ministry estimate that the company's outstanding tax liabilities from all Brazilian companies operating abroad total US$30 billion to US$43 billion.