Milan prosecutors said on Wednesday that tech giant Google has paid 326 million euros to Italy after an investigation into the so-called unpaid taxes.
Italian authorities accused Google Ireland Ltd of failing to impose and pay taxes on revenue generated in the country between 2015 and 2019, and the investigation focused particularly on revenues earned through the sales of advertising.
According to an agreement with Google, “the company continues to pay… 326 million euros in taxes, fines and interest to resolve outstanding matters with the Italian tax authorities”.
As a result, prosecutors said they had filed a request to the judge to dismiss the criminal proceedings in the case.
In a statement to AFP, a spokesperson for the technology company confirmed the deal without giving the figures.
It said: “Google and the Italian Tax Agency have reached a settlement that has resolved the tax audit without litigation for a period of time between 2015 and 2019.”
The EU has little success in getting technology companies to pay more taxes in Europe, where they are accused of remitting profits to low-tax economies such as Ireland and Luxembourg.
In one of the most notorious cases, the European Commission ordered Apple to pay Ireland a post-tax (13 billion euros) for more than a decade after ruling a sweetheart deal with the government.
But the EU judge overturned the decision, saying the company did not violate the rules, and the Commission has been working to reverse it since then.
The committee also worked to reverse another loss after the judge rejected Amazon's order to repay 250 million euros after taxes to Luxembourg.
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