Sticky tax situations are not completely uncommon for internationally sought-after designers. It was only last year that Roberto Cavalli cleared his name concerning an unflattering accusation of tax evasion in 2002.
Well, Cavalli was certainly not the first and not even the most recent fashion designer to deal with this type of issue. Now Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, who we all know from their Dolce & Gabbana fame, have found themselves in a similar pickle.
Following their 2004 sale of their two brands, the designing duo has been accused by Italian police of declaring a significantly smaller amount received from the sale than the estimation of the transaction’s market value. It’s an unfortunate turn of events for the pair since, if the charges are set, they could owe more than a billion dollars in fines and taxes. Can you just imagine how many Dolce & Gabbana bags that would buy?
The two designers are vehemently denying the charges saying that the calculated market value was much higher than the actual sale. I can only hope for them that Italian officials won’t take as long to decide on their fate as they did for Roberto Cavalli. Six years is a long time to sit around wondering whether or not you owe billions to someone … or maybe it’s just a great time to save.
[Source: NY Mag]
[Image: sbcarlile/Flickr]
