International-News

Twitter, now ‘X’, accused of VAT evasion in Italy for €12.5 million from 2016 to 2022

The Italian Revenue Agency is contesting the non-payment of VAT to Elon Musk’s social. Milan Guardia di Finanza investigation into the use of user data

The Agenzia delle Entrate, following audits conducted by the Guardia di Finanza in Milan, has charged Twitter International UK, now renamed ‘X’ under the management of Elon Musk, with non-payment of €12.5 million in VAT between 2016 and 2022. The Milan public prosecutor’s office, with the file entrusted to prosecutor Giovanni Polizzi, accuses the social network of using the same scheme identified in the pilot investigation on Meta, closed in December 2024, which revolves around the economic value of users’ personal data.

The investigation focuses on the alleged non-application of VAT to users’ free registrations on the platform, where in exchange for their personal data, profiling is carried out for commercial purposes. The investigators claim that this exchange represents an exchange between different goods, which is therefore subject to the VAT regime.

The Tax Agency notified its findings in January 2025, which confirm the findings of the Guardia di Finanza. X will have until April to start a dialogue with the Agency and choose whether to accept the tax authorities’ demands or proceed with a tax dispute.

The investigation also involves two former directors of Twitter International UK, an Irishman and an Indian, who succeeded each other at the helm of the company before Musk took control at the end of 2022. The Guardia di Finanza concluded the tax audit in April 2024, focusing on the same issue that had already emerged in the Meta case.

In fact, in December 2024, the Milan Public Prosecutor’s Office notified the conclusion of the preliminary investigation on Meta, which concerns the hypothesis of omitted declaration and non-payment of VAT between 2015 and 2021 for a total amount of more than EUR 877 million.

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