By Valentina Za and Emilio Parodi
Rome, April 9 (Reuters) – Italy sought 1.2 billion euros ($1.3 billion) from the fintech group, as two people familiar with the matter, during a prosecutor’s investigation in the northern city of Bologna during a prosecutor’s investigation from the fintech group during a 2013-2023 period.
The investigation adds to a series of tax evasion cases in Italy against U.S. technology companies, the center of a broader EU response sparked by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.
ION Group is a private provider of financial services software and data based in Dublin with offices worldwide founded by Andrea Pignataro, an Italian businessman from Bologna.
In recent years, ION has spent about €6 billion in a series of acquisitions in Italy due to Pignataro’s commitment to providing data and digital services to smaller banks.
One of the sources said the tax authorities in Italy required that the ION include as much as 500 million euros in lost income, which more than doubled when interest payments were increased.
The person added that the ION’s lawyers are in discussions with the Italian tax authorities to file a claim.
The charge was a failure to file a tax return, with prosecutors and Italian tax police in Bologna alleging that the company announced foreign income in Italy in fact.
Reuters reported last month that Italy has put tax requirements on Dollar, X and LinkedIn in an unprecedented VAT claim against U.S. tech giants that could have an impact across the EU.
(Reported by Valentina Za and Emilio Parodi, edited by Giselda Vagnoni)
