EU prosecutors crack luxury-car VAT fraud routed through San Marino shell firms
Italy's Guardia di Finanza, coordinated by the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) offices in Bologna, Turin and Palermo, executed arrests and seizures in a luxury-car VAT fraud estimated at over €42.8 million. Investigators say fictitious companies based in the Republic of San Marino were used to import Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Porsches and other high-end cars from Germany, Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands, exploiting bilateral procedures and presenting systematically falsified San Marino single-phase tax (imposta monofase) certificates to re-register vehicles in Italy without paying VAT. Seven people faced precautionary measures and authorities seized 61 vehicles and ten bank accounts; the scheme reportedly involved more than 1,700 cars, building on an earlier 2024 tranche that netted three German nationals. Separately, San Marino's national football team played a friendly against Bangladesh ahead of the international window.
Why it matters
San Marino's status as a low-tax microstate with special customs and fiscal arrangements with Italy and the EU has long made it a focus of scrutiny for cross-border tax evasion and money-laundering risks, and its use here as a transit point for fraudulent VAT-free imports underscores why such loopholes draw EPPO attention. The case reflects broader EU efforts to police VAT carousel fraud, a multibillion-euro drain on member-state budgets, and could renew pressure on San Marino to tighten oversight of its monofase certification system.