Milan prosecutors are investigating Facebook parent company Meta Platforms Inc. for alleged unpaid VAT taxes for a total of about €870 million ($927 million), according to people familiar with the matter.
The investigation, originally led by Italy's
"We take our tax obligations seriously and pay all tax required in each of the countries where we operate, and we strongly disagree with the idea that providing access to online platforms to users should be charged with VAT," Meta said in a statement. Meta is willing to cooperate fully with the authorities when they have questions about obligations under EU and local law, the statement added.
Representatives for the Milan-based court and the Guardia di Finanza declined to comment. The probe was originally reported by Ansa news agency.
The Meta case is the latest in a series for Italian and European authorities as they look into tax practices of global companies. In 2019 Italian prosecutors probed Netflix Inc. after the U.S. streaming company failed to file a return, people familiar with the matter said at that time.
In the same year Gucci owner Kering SA agreed to pay €1.25 billion to settle a case involving the brand's tax payments from 2011 to 2017.
