Milan, Feb. 19 (LaPresse) – The Milan Prosecutor's Office has requested the dismissal of the tax fraud investigation against Google Ireland Limited after the company reached an agreement with the Italian Revenue Agency to pay €326 million in a single installment, covering unpaid taxes, penalties, and interest. This was announced in a statement by Milan's Chief Prosecutor, Marcello Viola.
The investigation, conducted by the Milan Economic and Financial Police Unit of the Guardia di Finanza, initially alleged tax fraud amounting to nearly €900 million between 2015 and 2019, with the existence of a "hidden permanent establishment" in Italy. This establishment allegedly consisted of Google's "servers and technological infrastructure" used to provide digital services through the platform.
As in many similar cases involving multinational tech companies, the Prosecutor's Office accused Google of failing to file annual income tax returns for revenues generated in Italy and failing to submit withholding tax declarations on royalties transferred to other companies within the same group abroad.