Italian justice is demanding 89 million euros from the oil group Deoleo, owner of brands such as Carbonell and Koipe, for a customs inspection of two of its subsidiaries. Through its subsidiary Carapelli Firenze, the company “received notification from the Italian court of second instance of an unfavorable decision” regarding a tax claim, as explained by the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV).
Deoleo specifies to the stock market controller that “the dispute is caused by the customs control initiated during the 2014 financial year by the customs” of its subsidiary.
“The procedure used by Carapelli Firenze during the period under investigation was widely used by multinational companies and was inherited” by the Spanish company after the takeover of the company in Italy.
Concretely, he explains that the Customs Inspectorate questioned the “customs processing contract” which “was signed by Carapelli International”, a company now dissolved, and by Carapelli Firenze, mentioned above. “As part of this contract, Carapelli Firenze was responsible for processing olive oil coming from countries outside the European Union, taking advantage of a series of tax exemptions recognized in Italy under customs regulations community,” he assumes. “Customs argued that Carapelli Firenze should not have benefited from the corresponding tax regime because, in their view, Carapelli International lacked autonomy in decision-making.”
Now, Deoleo, through Carapelli Firenze, will request a suspension of payment of the claimed amount, which amounts to approximately 89 million euros and which includes interest estimated at 26 million euros. Furthermore, he indicates that he will appeal the sentence before the Court of Cassation. “The Company reaffirms its legal position,” he declared to the CNMV and “has solid arguments to support its defense in order to win the trial.”
He justifies that “the argument put forward by customs on the necessary autonomy of decision of Carapelli International is based neither on Italian customs regulations nor on those of the European Union, and there are no judicial precedents in the European Union. consistent with the arguments used by the customs office. For this reason, he assures that “he will ask the Court of Cassation to ask a preliminary question before the Court of the European Union” and “if the position defended by customs is confirmed, the businesses in Europe of international groups would be significantly affected.”
It also assures the CNMV that “Carapelli International was an entity with economic substance which had the material resources, personnel and operational capacity necessary to subscribe to and respect the obligations derived from the controlled transformation contract. Indeed, customs had recognized the validity of the subcontracting contract in its verification and evaluation documents,” he concludes.
In reference to the impact of the fine, Deoleo lost 34 million in the 2023 financial year, which it attributed to the rise in oil prices last year.
