Suntory accounts reveal IR royalty tussle as business morphs into $3b entity

Suntory Oceania boss Dai Minato. (Image: BusinessDesk)

Wed, 21 May 2025

With the dust well settled on a lengthy court wrangle between the Inland Revenue Department and Japanese beverage and food maker Suntory over a tax avoidance claim, the New Zealand company is ploughing ahead with a $3 billion trans-Tasman merger of the group’s alcohol and non-alcoholic drinks businesses.However, its latest 2024 accounts for the year to December show that it is subject to ongoing scrutiny from Inland Revenue (IR) over royalty payments to its parents for using its brands in this region (see below).Suntory Beverage & Foo...

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