The French tax authorities, which demanded more than 550 million euros from the French bottler of Coca-Cola (CCEP), “have already dropped the procedure” covering the years 2014 to 2017, and are continuing “constructive discussions” on 2018 and 2017. 2019, the company learned on Thursday. “The tax authorities have already dropped the procedure for the years 2014 to 2017,” said Coca-Cola Europacific Partners France (CCEP), the French bottler of the famous soft drink, in a press release sent on Thursday.
Bercy has requested from the CCEP 370 million euros in adjustments for the years 2014 and 2015 and 182.2 million euros for 2016, according to its financial documentation for 2022, filed in September 2023 with the commercial court. In its accounts for 2023 this time, filed in July 2024 with the commercial court of Nanterre and consulted on Thursday, the company indicated that these adjustments “were extended to part of the year 2017, without major impact on the accumulation of the notified amounts”. In the meantime, the tax authority has dropped part of the procedure, said a source close to the company.
Coca-Cola Services France subsidiary already immobilized
The tax authorities have questioned the conditions under which CCEP obtains its concentrate (later used to produce soft drinks such as Coca-Cola, Fanta or Sprite) from The Coca-Cola Company in the United States. The adjustments for the 2018 and 2019 financial years relate to “intra-group services”, for lower amounts: 13.1 million euros for 2018 and 16.2 million euros for 2019. The bottler, which says it employs 2,500 people in France, where it has five factories, achieved a turnover of 2.8 billion euros in 2023 (+8.9%), for a net profit of 92.8 million euros (+4.3%).
Another French subsidiary, Coca-Cola Services France (CCSF), paid more than 42 million euros in May after a restructuring covering 2014 and 2015, and made a provision of almost 104 million euros. The American parent company is the subject of a huge tax adjustment in the United States, worth at least 6 billion dollars with interest, for having incorrectly recorded its foreign turnover between 2007 and 2009.
Source: BFM TV
