Italy’s Court of Cassation has upheld an administrative fine of nearly €14 million against the de facto administrator of a company based in San Marino.
The appellant, identified as the individual who controlled the commercial system at the centre of the investigation, will also have to pay €30,000 in legal costs.
The case originated from inspections carried out by the Guardia di Finanza of Rimini (Italy’s financial police), which formed the basis for the claims brought by Italy’s Revenue Agency.
According to investigators’ reconstruction, several Italian companies linked to the taxpayer purchased goods from Asia before reselling them to the San Marino-based company.
The products then re-entered the Italian market through another company and an e-commerce platform.
Among the contested elements was the foreign company’s lack of the technical and operational resources needed to carry out its declared business activity. Tax authorities had also traced the management of the commercial network – and the benefits derived from it – directly back to the taxpayer.
The penalty, imposed in April 2016 following a notice issued in November 2015, had been challenged by the administrator.
The appeal disputed the grounds for the penalty, the evidence supporting his effective role, and whether the sanctions could be attributed to him personally.
The Court of Cassation found that the lower courts’ conclusions were adequately reasoned, clarifying that a company’s legal personality does not automatically exclude liability for those who actually exercise control over it and are the real beneficiaries of its income.
The court also rejected the request to settle the dispute over the penalties without payment, noting that failing to challenge the original tax assessment does not, on its own, amount to a resolution of the tax matter.
