IRS says Fedex owes $319 mln in back taxes
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Fedex Corp said on Friday that the U.S. Internal Revenue Service found that its FedEx Ground independent contractors should be reclassified as employees for tax purposes and that the company faced related taxes and penalties of more than $319 million for 2002.
The IRS is auditing similar issues for 2004 through 2006, the package delivery company said in the filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
"Given the preliminary status of this matter, we cannot yet determine the amount or a reasonable range of potential loss. However, we do not believe that any loss is probable," Fedex said in the filing.
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which has asserted FedEx Ground workers are in fact employees and which is campaigning to unionize FedEx Ground drivers, welcomed the IRS decision.
"It's game over for FedEx's independent contractor scam," union President Jim Hoffa said in a statement.
The union said penalties against FedEx could eventually top $1 billion, since the current penalty only covers the year 2002.
FedEx said that it has "strong defenses to the IRS's tentative assessment and will vigorously defend" its position that FedEx Ground's owner-operators are independent contractors.
The filing came a day after Memphis, Tenn.-based FedEx warned that it faces "increase regulatory and legal uncertainty" over the independent contractor model it uses at FedEx Ground, which could result in higher costs..
FedEx Ground uses 15,000 drivers who are paid as independent contractors. Under this system, FedEx Ground drivers can own multiple routes, employing other drivers to deliver packages. Investors like the model because it helps FedEx save money and compete against main rival United Parcel Service Inc and its unionized work force.
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Grounds for Divorce in Ohio - Sylkatis Law, LLC
A divorce in Ohio is filed when there is typically “fault” by one of the parties and party not at “fault” seeks to end the marriage. A court in Ohio may grant a divorce for the following reasons:
• Willful absence of the adverse party for one year
• Adultery
• Extreme cruelty
• Fraudulent contract
• Any gross neglect of duty
• Habitual drunkenness
• Imprisonment in a correctional institution at the time of filing the complaint
• Procurement of a divorce outside this state by the other party
Additionally, there are two “no-fault” basis for which a court may grant a divorce:
• When the parties have, without interruption for one year, lived separate and apart without cohabitation
• Incompatibility, unless denied by either party
However, whether or not the the court grants the divorce for “fault” or not, in Ohio the party not at “fault” will not get a bigger slice of the marital property.