Caterpillar receives second grand jury subpoena

Caterpillar Inc., the world's largest maker of mining and construction equipment, reported receiving a second subpoena from a federal grand jury in Illinois.

The subpoena requests documents from the company on "the purchase and resale of replacement parts by Caterpillar Inc. and non-U.S. Caterpillar subsidiaries," the company said Thursday in its quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

That follows a January subpoena and a U.S. Senate investigation into whether the company structured its global parts business to reduce taxes.

Caterpillar also reported receiving a report from the Internal Revenue Service saying that the company owes $1 billion in back taxes and penalties related to the parts transactions in 2007, 2008 and 2009. The ultimate cost to the company could be higher because the IRS could apply the same logic to years after 2009.

"We believe that the relevant transactions complied with applicable tax laws and did not violate judicial doctrines," Caterpillar said in the filing.

No one at Caterpillar could immediately be reached for comment.