Alphabet shares fall for a second straight session on Wednesday, Google’s “longstanding” tax dispute with the Australian Taxation Office now settled

A “longstanding” tax dispute has been settled between Alphabet Inc’s Google and the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), after the tech company paid additional AUD 481.5 million on top of its preceding tax bill.

Alphabet shares closed lower for a second consecutive trading session on NASDAQ on Wednesday. The stock edged down 0.18% ($2.50) to $1,352.62, after touching an intraday low at $1,351.16, or a price level not seen since December 13th ($1,343.87).

Shares of Alphabet Inc have risen 30.61% so far in 2019 compared with a 27.30% gain for the benchmark index, S&P 500 (SPX).

In 2018, Alphabet’s stock went down 1.03%, thus, it again outperformed the S&P 500, which registered a 6.24% loss.

The settlement follows an audit of Google’s tax practices during the period 2008-2018.

Tech giants have been criticized globally for reducing their tax bills thanks to practices involving profit booking in low-tax countries regardless of where the end customer is located.

Australia’s tax office said that it had now netted AUD 1.25 billion, as tax disputes with other large tech companies were also settled recently under the Multinational Anti-Avoidance Law.

“Thanks to the efforts of our ATO officers under the Tax Avoidance Taskforce and the introduction of the MAAL, Australian sourced sales by these digital giants will now be returned to Australia’s tax base,” the ATO said in a statement, cited by Reuters.

The settlement has been “another e-commerce victory”, the tax office said.

Analyst stock price forecast and recommendation

According to CNN Money, the 42 analysts, offering 12-month forecasts regarding Alphabet Inc’s stock price, have a median target of $1,460.00, with a high estimate of $1,907.73 and a low estimate of $1,250.00. The median estimate represents a 7.94% upside compared to the closing price of $1,352.62 on December 18th.

The same media also reported that at least 36 out of 45 surveyed investment analysts had rated Alphabet Inc’s stock as “Buy”, while 6 – as “Hold”.