The Milan prosecutor’s office is investigating alleged tax evasion by a Campari group company. The hypothesis would concern a failure to declare approximately one billion euros, on a tax base of 5 billion, committed by the Luxembourg holding company Lagfin which controls the majority of the Campari group.
The investigations
The file, in which the failure to declare income and the failure to pay taxes is hypothesized and with an alleged “hidden stable organisation” at its centre, is coordinated by prosecutors Enrico Pavone and Bianca Baj Macario and conducted by the Gdf in collaboration with the Revenue Agency. The investigations are conducted by the economic-finance police unit of the GdF of Milan. Two legal representatives are under investigation.
As far as we know, the GDF sent the Revenue Agency the results of the tax audit which began in 2019 and which were included in the so-called “finding report”. Results also transmitted to the Milan Prosecutor’s Office, led by Marcello Viola, who opened an investigation into the alleged tax evasion which currently involves two suspects, including managers and legal representatives of the Luxembourg holding. In the accusatory hypothesis there would have been a “permanent establishment” in Italy of the group’s Luxembourg holding company and taxes would not have been paid for years ranging from 2018 to 2020 and for over one billion euros. Now the group’s lawyers will have 60 days to present their counterarguments in the administrative-tax proceedings and then the disputes will begin. The criminal aspect will run parallel to the tax front which, obviously, as has already happened in many cases of this kind, will however take into account a possible transaction with the tax authorities
in-depth analysis
Tax evasion in Italy, classification of activities and cities at risk
Lagfin’s note
Lagfin, in relation to the press reports relating to alleged non-compliances, declares “its absolute serenity with respect to any possible dispute, which is only potential, as no notice of assessment has been issued and this also due to the total absence of the conditions for fact and law for its possible issuance”. Lagfin, the note continues, “has always fulfilled its tax obligations with the utmost scruple in all the jurisdictions in which it operates and considers any potential objection to be devoid of any basis”. “We believe and trust that our incontrovertible reasons will be recognized as soon as possible in all the competent bodies.”
The note from Campari Group
Campari Group specifies in a note that “neither Davide Campari-Milano NV nor any of its subsidiaries are under investigation by the authorities. Consequently, no impact is expected for Davide Campari-Milano NV nor for any of its companies”.
