Carnival Vows To Pay Back Government For Aid

MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Doral-based Carnival Corporation has finally agreed to reimburse the U.S. government for the costs related to helping save the Carnival Triumph in February and the Carnival Splendor in 2010, according to CBS4 news partner the Miami Herald.

Carnival had been under fire for refusing to pay the roughly $4.2 million the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard spent trying to help the disabled cruise ships. Carnival said no federal agency requested to be paid back but that it voluntarily decided to reimburse the government.

According to the Herald, Carnival emphasized that it had never stated it would refuse to pay back the federal agencies if they asked for the money.

The controversy started shortly after the Carnival Triumph returned to land when Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-W. Va.) informed Carnival of the costs for the rescue of the ships. Rockefeller pointed out that Carnival paid little or no federal taxes and asked if the company was going to pay back the government, according to the Herald.

Carnival paid corporate taxes of roughly 1.1 percent of its profit over a five-year period. Carnival is officially incorporated in Panama, which allows the company to get around many U.S. laws including tax laws.

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