Kering says Swiss activities tax-compliant

PARIS, Mar 18 (Reuters): French luxury goods group Kering has complied with its tax obligations in Switzerland, it said, responding to newspaper reports alleging that the company used a Swiss-based scheme to evade taxes on earnings from brands such as Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent.

France's Mediapart and Germany's Der Spiegel alleged that Kering had saved on taxes it should have paid in countries such as Italy by billing some business carried out elsewhere to a Swiss site.

Mediapart, which cited documents linked to an Italian tax investigation, said it estimated that since 2002 Kering had saved 2.5 billion euros ($3.1 billion) in tax in this manner.

The newspapers said that wholesale activities - the sale of products to retailers such as department stores - are largely carried out by Kering staff in cities such as Paris, Milan or London but that the group benefited from a low tax rate of about 8.0 per cent by billing them through the Swiss region of Ticino.

Kering said that its Swiss businesses, home to more than 600 employees, were an important part of its inventory management, billing and supply chain logistics and that their activities were directly linked to its brands.