By
Reuters
Revealed
February 14, 2025
Italian prosecutors are investigating e-commerce big Amazon and three of its executives over alleged tax evasion price €1.2 billion ($1.26 billion), two sources with direct information of the matter mentioned on Friday.
Milan prosecutors and tax police positioned the three managers and Amazon’s Luxembourg-based European unit underneath investigation for tax fraud in on-line gross sales in Italy throughout 2019-2021, the sources mentioned on Friday.
They mentioned the invoice for Amazon may rise to €3 billion, making an allowance for penalties and curiosity.
Based on the sources, Amazon’s algorithm permits it to promote in Italy items from non-EU sellers, principally Chinese language, with out disclosing their id, serving to them keep away from paying Italian valued-added tax (VAT).
Underneath Italian legislation, an middleman providing items on the market in Italy is co-responsible for the non-payment of VAT by non-EU sellers that use its e-commerce platform.
The investigation, which began in 2021, resulted from routine checks carried out by tax police in an space north of Milan, the 2 sources mentioned. They might not be named as a result of they weren’t authorised to talk publicly on the difficulty.
In a separate investigation, Italian tax police in July 2024 seized roughly €121 million from an Italian unit of Amazon as a part of an investigation into alleged tax fraud and unlawful labour practices that’s ongoing.
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