MILAN – Milan prosecutors are investigating an Italian unit of Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) for suspected tax evasion, two sources said on Friday. However, the inquiry was not linked to a multi-million euro seizure from another of the group’s Italian units this week.
Italy’s tax police on Tuesday seized some 121 million euros ($131 million) from another unit of the U.S. e-retailer as part of an investigation into alleged tax fraud and illegal labor practices, prosecutors’ documents showed.
The second tax evasion investigation started in 2021 and was triggered by routine checks carried out by tax police in an area north of Milan, the two sources with knowledge of the matter said.
The inquiry focuses on tax rules over the trading of goods within Italy’s borders and internationally, with particular reference to value-added taxes and customs duties, the sources said.
They said they haven’t yet quantified the size of the potential tax evasion.
Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) had no immediate comment.
Italy’s tax authorities and tax police in Monza city, just north of Milan, have been conducting checks on Amazon accounts in Italy in relation to the inquiry over the past few years, they said.
($1 = 0.9211 euros)
(Source: ReutersReuters)
