Amazon.com Inc. said Feb. 5 it has reached a settlement in a tax dispute with authorities in France.
The U.S. online retail giant did not provide details on the settlement.
"We have reached an agreement with the tax authorities on historical matters," Amazon said in a statement emailed to S&P Global Market Intelligence.
According to media reports, France had been seeking €200 million from Amazon due to issues over the Seattle-based company's allocation of income between jurisdictions in the period from 2006 to 2010.
Amazon indicated it had taken action to remedy the source of the complaint. "In August 2015, to ensure we had the best business structure to serve our customers going forward, we established a local country branch of Amazon EU Sarl in France, with all retail revenues, expenses, profits and taxes due now accounted for in France," it said.
In December 2017, the company settled a similar tax dispute in Italy, Reuters reported. The company agreed to pay €100 million to resolve a claim by Italian authorities for between €120 million and €130 million, the report said.
Amazon has not settled all its tax problems in Europe. The European Commission on Oct. 4, 2017, ordered Luxembourg to recover about €250 million after the competition regulator concluded the country's tax rules allowed the company to avoid paying taxes on three-quarters of its profits earned in the European Union between May 2006 and June 2014.
In its report, the EC said a tax ruling issued by Luxembourg in 2003 lowered the tax paid by Amazon in the country without justification.
Amazon was allowed to shift the vast majority of its profits from Amazon EU, a group operating company subject to tax in Luxembourg, to Amazon Europe Holding Technologies, a holding company that was not subject to the same tax rules, the commission added.
Amazon in October 2017 disputed the ruling and said it was considering its options, including an appeal.
