Yahoo is throwing caution to the wind with its bold plan of spinning off its Alibaba shares worth $22 billion without favorable ruling for the Internal Revenue Service of the United States.
Reuters has learned that Yahoo Inc is more than ever serious with its planned spinoff of its Alibaba stake after revealing early this month that the IRS did not approve its request to be granted permission to push through with the spinoff of the Chinese e-commerce giant tax free.
In a regulatory filing, Yahoo recognized the fact that its planned spinoff would still be subject to certain conditions especially the U.S. federal tax laws.
Pregnant president Marissa Mayer first revealed in January Yahoo's plan to transfer its Alibaba shares to new holding company Aabaco.
On the other hand, the IRS is still contemplating over Yahoo's planned spinoff since it has yet to discern whether this big move is taxable or not. Thus, Mayer's plan was not given a go signal.
On Sept. 14, the U.S. IRS released a guidance/paywall without really singling out Yahoo but it expressed the department's concern over spinoffs comprising large "investment assets" and "minimal operating businesses."
Nevertheless, Yahoo revealed on Monday that the company is now moving forward with its spinoff after it got authorization from the company's board, Quartz has learned.
The move is seen as a very risky one by analysts since Yahoo could be facing a $9 billion tax bill.
"On September 23, 2015, Yahoo's Board of Directors authorized the Company to continue to pursue the plan for the Aabaco spin-off transaction as previously disclosed, except that completion of the spin-off will not be conditioned upon receipt of a favorable ruling from the IRS," read the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
Yahoo could only hope for a positive outcome for its plan, which is expected to be completed by the fourth quarter, The Register noted.
