{"id":841186,"date":"2025-04-15T21:12:31","date_gmt":"2025-04-16T02:12:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/15\/italy-probing-amazon-over-1-2b-euros-in-third-party-seller-vat\/"},"modified":"2025-04-15T21:12:31","modified_gmt":"2025-04-16T02:12:31","slug":"italy-probing-amazon-over-1-2b-euros-in-third-party-seller-vat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/15\/italy-probing-amazon-over-1-2b-euros-in-third-party-seller-vat\/","title":{"rendered":"Italy probing Amazon over 1.2b euros in third-party seller VAT"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Amazon could end up on the hook for $3.1 billion – Copyright AFP Ishara S. KODIKARA<\/small><\/em><\/p>\n

Italian prosecutors are examining whether online giant Amazon.com evaded 1.2 billion euros in value-added tax (VAT) it should have paid on behalf of certain third-party sellers, sources told AFP Monday.<\/p>\n

The total claim against the online retailer, including penalties, could rise to as much as three billion euros ($3.14 billion), a source in Italy\u2019s financial crimes police said.<\/p>\n

The preliminary investigation, confirmed by a source within the Milan prosecutors\u2019 office, involves a three-year period from 2019 to 2021.\u00a0<\/p>\n

An Italian law in 2019 made e-commerce businesses responsible for the VAT owed by its third-party sellers outside the European Union selling goods to customers in Italy.<\/p>\n

Previously, these third-party sellers were responsible for paying the tax.<\/p>\n

The Italian law came ahead of a reform of EU e-commerce rules, which took effect in July 2021, that sought to simplify how online platforms collect VAT.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A review of transactions from 2019 to 2021 by Italy\u2019s financial crime police found \u201cunpaid VAT\u201d by Amazon amounting to 1.2 billion euros, a source at the force told AFP.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you add to this sum the penalties\u2026 you get up to three billion euros,\u201d the source said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The police investigation, begun in the spring of 2024, wrapped up in December.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Amazon said it would not comment on ongoing investigations, but said it was \u201ccommitted to complying with all applicable tax laws\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Seattle-based tech company added that it had paid direct and indirect taxes of 1.4 billion euros to Italy in 2023.<\/p>\n

A preliminary investigation by prosecutors does not necessarily lead to charges.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Italian investigation comes as US President Donald Trump, who has railed against his country\u2019s trade deficit with the EU, has threatened the bloc with reciprocal tariffs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He has said that VAT \u2014 which is not a tariff but a consumption tax irrespective of the origin of the good \u2014 could be subject to a reciprocal levy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The EU measure that made online platforms liable for the tax obligations of third-part sellers was designed to ensure fair competition for the bloc and recoup lost VAT.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The reform also removed an exemption on collection of the tax on low-value goods. \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\"AFP\"\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

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With 2,400 staff representing 100 different nationalities, AFP covers the world as a leading global news agency. AFP provides fast, comprehensive and verified coverage of the issues affecting our daily lives.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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AFP
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Amazon could end up on the hook for $3.1 billion – Copyright AFP Ishara S. KODIKARA Italian prosecutors are examining whether online giant Amazon.com evaded 1.2 billion euros in value-added tax (VAT) it should have paid on behalf of certain third-party sellers, sources told AFP Monday. The total claim against the online retailer, including penalties<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":841187,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2379,37195],"tags":[16096,99484],"class_list":{"0":"post-841186","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-italy","8":"category-probing","9":"tag-italy","10":"tag-probing"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/841186","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=841186"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/841186\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/841187"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=841186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=841186"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=841186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}