Immunotec to Appeal Recent Court Decision in Mexico
VAUDREUIL-DORION, QUEBEC--(Marketwired - Sep 15, 2014) - Immunotec Inc. (TSX VENTURE:IMM), a direct-to-consumer company and a leader in the nutritional industry (the "Company" or "Immunotec"), announces its decision to appeal a recent unfavourable taxation court ruling in Mexico. The decision, received last week, denied certain favourable value-added tax ("VAT") refund requests based on an alleged misclassification of Immunocal products for VAT purposes in what the Company and many other market participants in Mexico believe is the absence of clear regulations.
"Immunotec and other industry participants have experienced the same type of negative actions and have initiated litigation against the Mexican tax authorities ('MTA') who have upheld the position that nutritional supplements should trigger VAT at a 16% rate, in the absence of clear laws. We believe our current tax treatment is appropriate and feel the legal arguments that underlie appealing this decision are correct," indicated Charles L. Orr, Chief Executive Officer. "We are still in the process of assessing the implications of this recent court decision, but because of the additional uncertainty created by this ruling, we have decided not to pursue, at this time, the equity financing announced in early July."
About the decision received from the taxation court
The Fifteenth Collegiate Tribunal in Administrative Matters of the First Circuit recently denied the Company a second stage appeal for a refund request of VAT balances made by a Mexican subsidiary of the Company for products sold in 2012. Immunotec has decided to challenge this decision and to file an appeal with the Mexican Supreme Court. In 2012, the MTA had denied this refund request on the basis that the Immunocal and Immunocal Platinum products were not destined for nutritional purposes and that a VAT tax rate of 16% should have been applied on the sale of such products. The Company has and continues to vigorously contest this interpretation.
About Immunotec Inc.
Immunotec is a Canadian-based Company that develops, manufactures, markets and sells research-driven nutritional products through direct-to-consumer sales channels in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. The Company offers an extensive family of nutritional products targeting health, wellness, weight management, as well as energy and fitness. The Immunocal family of products is supported by over 40 published articles and supporting science in medical and scientific literature.
The Company files its continuous disclosure documents on the SEDAR database at www.sedar.com and on the Company's website at www.immunotec.com. The common shares of the Company are listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the ticker symbol IMM. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
CAUTION REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS: Certain statements contained in this news release are forward looking and are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, known and unknown. For information identifying known risks and uncertainties and other important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements, please refer to the heading Risks and Uncertainties in Immunotec's most recent Management's Discussion and Analysis and Annual Information Form which can be found at www.sedar.com. Consequently, actual results may differ materially from the anticipated results expressed in these forward-looking statements.
