Merck may have to pay $3.8 billion in tax dispute

Merck & Co. said it might have to pay about $3.8 billion to the Internal Revenue Service in connection with disputed expenses on its tax returns, about $1.5 billion more than the Whitehouse Station, N.J.-based drug maker previously reported.

The IRS has sent Merck notices that it won’t allow a capital loss and proposes “recharacterizing a loan from a foreign subsidiary to the company as a taxable distribution” on its 1995 to 1998 tax forms, Merck said.