Italy’s Drive on Corporate Back Taxes Reaps $2.6 Billion 

(Bloomberg) -- Italy's claim that Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV underestimated the value of its U.S. business is just the latest installment in the country's campaign to reap billions of euros in unpaid taxes from multinational corporations.

In the last four years Italy has raised 2.3 billion euros ($2.6 billion) in settlements from companies including technology giants Google, Amazon.com, Facebook Inc, and Kering SA, the owner of luxury brand Gucci.

The Italian government has made combating tax evasion one of its priorities over the last few years, seeking to rein in Europe's largest public debt. As part of the tax evasion crackdown, the administration led by Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte is considering measures to discourage consumers from using cash and instead use credit cards.

The Fiat case, where Italy alleges the company undervalued its American business by 5.1 billion euros, could bring as much as 1.4 billion euros to the state's coffers, making it potentially Italy's biggest case.

In May, Kering agreed to pay 1.25 billion euros to settle an investigation of the brand's tax payments from 2011 to 2017. Italian authorities alleged that the company funneled revenue through a Swiss logistics center to avoid paying higher rates in Italy.

In 2017, Google agreed to pay an additional 306 million euros to settle a tax inquiry related to the 2002-2015 period. The same year Amazon paid 100 million euros to Italian tax authorities for amounts due in the 2011-2105 period. The following year, Facebook settled with Italy's revenue agency to start paying taxes in the country where sales are made.

--With assistance from Zoe Schneeweiss.

To contact the reporter on this story: Dan Liefgreen in Milan at dliefgreen@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Chad Thomas at cthomas16@bloomberg.net, Alessandro Speciale, Jerrold Colten

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