Newsroom
for 1999 Tax Year; Will Petition Tax Court to Contest Adjustment
FOR RELEASE FRIDAY MAY 19, 2006
ROCHESTER, N.Y. - Bausch & Lomb (NYSE: BOL) has received a Notice of Final Partnership Administrative Adjustment from the Internal Revenue Service relating to tax years ending June 24, 1999 and December 25, 1999, for Wilmington Partners L.P., a partnership formed in 1993 in which the majority of partnership interests are held by subsidiaries of the Company. The asserted adjustments, described in a Form 8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Administration today, could, if sustained in full, increase the tax liabilities of the partnership's partners for the associated tax periods by more than $200 million, plus penalties and interest. Since 1999, the Company's consolidated financial statements have included a deferred tax liability relating to this partnership; which would offset the earnings impact of increased taxes resulting from the proposed adjustments, if sustained. As of December 24, 2004, this deferred tax liability equaled $162.8 million.
Bausch & Lomb disagrees with the grounds asserted for these adjustments and with the assertion of penalties and interest and intends to file a petition in U.S. Tax Court to challenge the asserted adjustments. The Company believes it has numerous substantive and procedural tax law arguments to dispute the adjustments, including the fact that the adjustments are barred by applicable statutes of limitation and the fact that the 1993 partnership formation, on which a key underpinning of the IRS's challenge is based, had been the subject of a previous IRS audit that was closed in 2001 and resulted in no changes to the partnership's return.
Bausch & Lomb said today that a tax matter of this nature would customarily be disclosed within the context of a routine quarterly filing with the SEC. But since those filings have been delayed, the company elected, in the interest of full disclosure, to record the receipt of the notice by filing an 8-K and issuing this announcement.
Bausch & Lomb is the eye health company, dedicated to perfecting vision and enhancing life for consumers around the world. Its core businesses include soft and rigid gas permeable contact lenses and lens care products, and ophthalmic surgical and pharmaceutical products. The Bausch & Lomb name is one of the best known and most respected healthcare brands in the world. Founded in 1853, the Company is headquartered in Rochester, New York. Bausch & Lomb's 2004 revenues were $2.2 billion; it employs approximately 12,400 people worldwide and its products are available in more than 100 countries. More information about the Company can be found on the Bausch & Lomb Web site at www.bausch.com . Copyright Bausch & Lomb Incorporated.
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