Brazil's state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA said on late Thursday it paid 1.6 billion reais ($508 million) to settle part of a tax dispute with Brazilian authorities and will take the charge against second-quarter earnings.
The charge includes 1.2 billion reais in back taxes and 400 million reais in fines, the company, known as Petrobras, said in a statement.
The payment comes after Brazil's CARF, a body within the Finance Ministry that hears appeals on tax disputes, ruled against the oil company on a dispute concerning taxes related to Petrobras' foreign subsidiaries in 2008.
The dispute dates back to 2012 but Petrobras said in a statement that it was necessary to make the payment now prevent the assessment from increasing as well as legal provisions such as a ban on importing oil.
Petrobras, which had not made provisions for the tax payment, is currently revamping the way it accounts for tax liabilities on the behest of new chief executive and former banker Aldemir Bendine, according to recent media reports.
($1 = 3.1522 Brazilian reais)