Google Agrees to Pay €326 Million to Settle Tax Case in Italy

Google has agreed to pay €326 million ($340 million) to settle a tax dispute with Italian authorities, prompting prosecutors in Milan to seek the dismissal of a tax evasion investigation.

The case, which focused on the failure to pay taxes on earnings from advertising revenues between 2015 and 2019, had been opened by Italian prosecutors, who had scrutinized the presence of Google’s servers and infrastructure in Italy.

The settlement follows an earlier tax claim from Rome, which had requested €1 billion in unpaid taxes and penalties from the company. Google acknowledged the settlement, describing it as a resolution of a tax audit without litigation.

This move comes after a similar settlement by Google in France, where the company paid over $1 billion to settle a long-running tax dispute. The payment in Italy is seen as a significant step in addressing tax issues in the European Union, where tech giants have faced increased scrutiny over their tax practices.

Google’s decision to settle the case with Italian authorities brings closure to an investigation that had been ongoing since 2015.

Reuters and the Hill contributed to this report.