Norwegian telecoms firm Telenor has won a major tax case against the state, which will leave it with a whopping tax refund of NOK 2.4 billion, or USD 357 million, plus interest.
The cash infusion is the result of a victory at the Norwegian Supreme Court, which ruled that Telenor was correct in maintaining that it was entitled to a tax deduction on a stock sale that resulted in a loss.

Telenor had argued all along that an internal sale five years ago of shares in a Danish subsidiary, Sonofon Holding, resulted in a loss that should have been tax deductible.

Norwegian authorities argued otherwise and didn’t allow the tax deduction. Even though Telenor prevailed at both the city and appeals court levels, the state tax authorities kept fighting. Now they’ve been overruled by the Supreme Court.

Telenor said Tuesday that it now can record “tax income of approximately 2,414 million crowns and financial income of approximately 574 million crowns in the fourth quarter 2006.”

The money represents the state’s court-ordered repayment of previously paid corporate income tax plus interest.

Source- http://www.aftenposten.no