Kering in Talks to Resolve Alexander McQueen Tax Issue
By Emilio Parodi
MILAN (Reuters) - French luxury goods group Kering is negotiating with the Italian tax authorities to settle a tax probe centred on its Alexander McQueen fashion brand, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Monday.
Prosecutors in Florence had opened an investigation for omitted tax declarations for the years 2016 to 2022 after the Guardia di Finanza police alleged that Alexander McQueen failed to declare some 60-70 million euros ($63-$74 million) in taxable income, sources said.
Kering confirmed in an emailed statement to Reuters that "discussions are underway with Italian tax authorities regarding Alexander McQueen".
"The company and the Kering group are confident of the correctness of their operations and are pursuing these discussions in a spirit of constructive dialogue," it added.
Italy's revenue agency, the Florence public prosecutor's office and the Guardia di Finanza police said they could not comment on ongoing cases.
The two sources said that regarding the amount deemed not to have been declared to the Italian authorities, the tax due plus any interest on arrears would have to be calculated.
In previous cases, the Kering Group settled fiscal litigations with the Italian tax authorities after a long dispute over its fashion brands Gucci, for which it paid out 1.25 billion euros in 2019, and Bottega Veneta, for which it paid out 187 million euros in 2022.
As in the two previous cases, revenue at the Florence-based company Alexander McQueen was booked through Kering's Swiss-based subsidiary Luxury Goods International.
The Italian prosecutors and tax authorities argue that in this case too the tax should have been paid in Italy and not Switzerland, the sources said.
Separately, Milan prosecutors have probed in recent years U.S. tech giants such as Apple, Amazon and Facebook over their taxes, and Italy netted several billion euros in fines and tax payments as a result.
Once the agreement between the companies and the Italian tax agency is signed, prosecutors can close the criminal investigation with either a dismissal or a settlement.
($1 = 0.9463 euros)
(Reporting by Emilio Parodi, editing by Giselda Vagnoni and Hugh Lawson)
