Sprint settles $330 million tax fraud dispute with New York Attorney General

Big quote: "Sprint knew exactly how New York sales tax law applied to its plans - yet for years the company flagrantly broke the law, cheating the state and its localities out of tax dollars that should have been invested in our communities."

New York's government and residents are raking in the cash lately, due to a recent barrage of legal settlements with ISPs and telecom companies. The latest example of this is New York's recent settlement with sprint, which puts an end to a long-running tax fraud suit that began in 2012.

New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood has announced that Sprint will settle the case with a $330 million payout, given to the government itself - this is in stark contrast to New York's recent settlement with Charter, which involved the company refunding over $117 million to consumers directly.

According to Underwood's office, Sprint filed misleading tax documents with the state, while "knowingly" failing to collect "more than $100 million" in taxes from its New York-based subscribers.

"Sprint knew exactly how New York sales tax law applied to its plans - yet for years the company flagrantly broke the law, cheating the state and its localities out of tax dollars that should have been invested in our communities," Underwood said in a statement, though she did not explain what form such investments may have taken.

"Sprint knew exactly how New York sales tax law applied to its plans - yet for years the company flagrantly broke the law, cheating the state and its localities out of tax dollars that should have been invested in our communities."

Underwood's office also claims that this is the "largest-ever [tax] recovery" by a single state due to an action brought under a state "false claims act."

It's worth noting, of course, that just because Sprint has settled with New York's Attorney General does not mean it's necessarily admitting guilt. On the contrary; in a statement to Engadget, Sprint said that while it was pleased that it could reach a settlement with Underwood after so many years of legal sparring, it "disagreed" with her "portrayal of events."

However, the company clearly has no interest in duking it out with New York's tax authorities any longer - instead, Sprint will simply suck up the $330 million fine (and its extensive legal fees) and move on.