Earlier this month technology giant Google settled a rather large tax bill of €306m with Italian authorities that had doggedly been pursuing the company for years.
As per usual with Google and other major companies that have hit the headlines in the European press for aggressive tax avoidance—Apple, Starbucks, Amazon, and so on—Italy’s beef was due to the stark numerical contrast between the billions of dollars in sales the U.S. technology company makes from European consumers and the rather paltry tax payments it makes to the countries where these customers live. For example, in 2014 Google paid just €2.2m in Italian taxes, according to company filings.
