Valero sues US for $ 400 million in tax refunds

(Reuters) – Valero Energy Corp sued the federal government on Tuesday in San Antonio, Texas, in federal court, demanding a refund of around $ 400 million in federal income taxes the refiner says it overpaid .

The San Antonio-based company says the Internal Revenue Service wrongly refused to return the funds it raised for the 2005 to 2008 tax years, even after Valero corrected the tax returns that led to its alleged overpayment.

Valero in his complaint says he initially mistakenly included as taxable gross income the value of the Bush-era tax credits he received for the 2005 to 2010 tax years for alcohol blends and of biodiesel that he mixed. She then filed refund claims for 2005 through 2008, but the IRS denied them, the company said. Valero recorded a net operating loss in 2009 and 2010 and, as a result, the tax refund claims for those years were carried over to the 2006 and 2008 tax years, he said.

The Justice Department and IRS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Valero and his lawyer Steven Otillar of White & Case did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The company says it is entitled to repayments of $ 31 million for 2005, $ 129 million for 2006, $ 62 million for 2007 and $ 184 million for 2008. It is also claiming statutory interest.

The case is Valero Energy Corp and Subsidiaries v. United States, US District Court for the Western District of Texas, No. 5: 21-cv-00922.

For Valero: Steven Otillar from White & Case