Ahold Delhaize misses out on 200 million euros

Food4 July, 2023 Dutch retail group Ahold Delhaize will not get the 200 million euro tax break it had hoped for after the Ahold-Delhaize merger. The Amsterdam appeal court now rejects the application as well.

No goodwill

The supermarket group was hoping for permission to deduct such a hefty amount as “merger goodwill” from corporate tax for ten years after the merger with Delhaize in 2016, but both the tax authorities and two different courts think otherwise, RTL Nieuws reports.

After the Dutch tax authorities did not take the goodwill into account, Ahold decided to take the matter to court. “Under current laws and regulations, several interpretations are possible regarding the tax treatment of this goodwill. In order to clarify this, the parties decided to bring the case to court”, the supermarket group said at the time.

No deduction

In March last year, the court in Haarlem called the case unfounded, and now the Amsterdam appeal court has ruled that the corporate tax assessment is not too high. That is a big blow for Ahold Delhaize, because over ten years it could otherwise have enjoyed a total tax benefit of 200 million euros.

Ahold Delhaize is studying the verdict, but stresses that it has always continued to pay the taxes. This verdict does not mean the company has to pay additional taxes, it only misses out on a hoped-for refund. That is different from Belgium, where last year the merger group had to pay an additional 382 million euros after a dispute with tax authorities over the acquisition of American Delhaize stores.