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Wal-Mart: In the Public Eye
Check out this piece from Reuters:
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A North Carolina state judge rejected an attempt by Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N: Quote, Profile, Research) to block public access to certain court documents in a tax dispute with state authorities, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday in its online edition.Earlier this month, the world's largest retailer filed a motion requesting to have a host of future filings in the case sealed.
North Carolina's attorney general -- opposing Wal-Mart's effort -- argued there was a public interest in maintaining public access to the documents at issue, the newspaper said.North Carolina's attorney general is challenging a Wal-Mart tax-cutting structure involving real-estate investment trusts (REIT), the Journal said.
The retailer transferred ownership of its stores to various in-house REITs and then cut its tax bill by taking deductions for rental payments which never left the company, the Journal said, adding that Wal-Mart defended the strategy as proper.
Wal-Mart declined to comment.
Posted by Scott - November 26, 2007 02:53 PM