Amazon evaded $141 mn in taxes between 2011-2015, say Italian officials

Italian authorities on Friday opened an investigation against US online retailing giant Amazon for allegedly evading 130 million euros ($141 million) in taxes between 2011-2015.

The investigation is at least the third in Italy against a big US digital company that Italian tax officials targeted in major tax probe, Xinhua news agency reported.

In January, Italian officials opened an investigation alleging that search engine company Google owed at least 224 million euros, a charge the company denied.

In late 2015, computer and mobile device giant Apple settled a tax suit for 318 million euros, the largest single tax settlement ever in Italy.

In the Amazon case, tax authorities filed the paperwork with prosecutors in Milan, alleging that Amazon's tax payments on a revenue of around 2.5 billion euros between 2011 and 2015 was too low.

Amazon officials in Italy did not immediately comment on the probe, but in 2016 the company denied any wrongdoing when reports of a potential tax investigation in Italy emerged.

Amazon was founded in 1994, and the company has operated its own Italy-only site since 2010. Since 2013, the Italy site has been the country's largest online retailer.