One of the world's largest publicly traded uranium companies, Cameco is asking the Canadian government to return the letter of credit (L/C) the miner submitted to guarantee payment to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) if it were proved that it had paid insufficient taxes.

Cameco asked for the L/C to be returned after Canada's Federal Court of Appeal upheld an earlier Tax Court of Canada decision in favour Cameco.

L/C and cash commitments

The Canadian government currently holds US$482 million in L/Cs and US$303 million in cash that Cameco has been required to pay as instalments on the reassessments issued by CRA for all tax years in dispute, from 2003 to 2013.

Cameco said in a statement that these commitments are "tying up a sizeable amount of the company's financial capacity."

Tax authority criticised

"With both court decisions in its favour, Cameco will be asking the government to return these instalments to the company, even if leave to appeal is requested by CRA," the statement said.

"If CRA feels the laws aren't written the way they want, then it's clear they need to approach the government to change the laws moving forward, not continue to pursue the same arguments over and over again before different courts and expect a different outcome," Cameco president and CEO, Tim Gitzel, said in the company's official statement on the latest verdict.

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