Dive Brief:

• Italy is the latest country in the European Union to accuse Google of tax evasion.
• Last week, Google agreed to pay 130 million pounds ($185 million) in back taxes to the United Kingdom, Reuters reports. 
• Italy has now accused Google of evading 227 million euros ($247.5 million) in taxes between 2009 and 2013.

Dive Insight:

Italian finance police allege Google failed to declare approximately 100 million euros of revenues in Italy over a five-year period.  If Google is found guilty, authorities could require it to pay the back taxes as well as substantial fines.

Google said it earned about 54.4 million euros in Italy in 2014, but Italy's Communications Authority allege it was more like 10 times that amount.

Italy also recently went after Apple, alleging that company failed to pay taxed for six years. Apple agreed to pay Italy's tax office 318 million euros to settle the dispute.

Google said it plans to pay all the taxes the British government says it owes.

EU officials want to ensure companies pay taxes on all earnings collected in a particular country, even when those funds are transferred to another country. U.S. tech companies that do business in the EU say the stringent rules may ultimately make it more difficult for them to conduct business abroad. The debate over taxation will likely continue as companies like Facebook move to house data centers in Europe.