Investigation of CK Hutchison's Wind Tre for Tax Evasion

CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd.'s telecommunications subsidiary in Italy, Wind Tre SpA, is under investigation for allegedly evading taxes during a $3.6 billion asset sale to Cellnex Telecom (BME:CLNX) SA.

The probe focuses on whether Wind Tre, Italy's third-largest phone company, failed to pay registration taxes during the sale of several thousand mobile phone masts to Barcelona-based Cellnex.

According to a document viewed by Bloomberg, the alleged tax evasion would total approximately €132 million ($144 million) for the year 2022. The document suggests that Wind Tre executives utilized a complex asset-sale system involving a Luxembourg-based entity, CK Hutchison Europe Investments Sarl, to lessen the company’s tax load in Italy.

The finance police noted that the tower sale deal led to "an undue optimization of the overall tax burden in terms of registration and income tax." The investigation into these allegations started last year, and Wind Tre received the full audit report in October.

In response to the allegations, Wind Tre stated that the transaction was carried out "in full compliance with applicable tax laws." The company also noted that it is cooperating with the tax authorities regarding the ongoing investigation. CK Hutchison, the parent company of Wind Tre, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Both Italy's finance police and a representative for Cellnex declined to comment on the matter.

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