Google it with a ONE BILLION euro tax bill in France after tax inspectors’ search web giant’s Paris offices
Google found to have channeled French revenue to Ireland
Analysts estimate Google France made 1.4bn euro in 2011
Court documents say it reported 193m euro revenue in France in 2012
[/symple_highlight]France’s tax authorities have launched a 1 billion euro tax claim against Google, it was reported today.
It follows financial inspectors searching the Paris offices of the internet giant in June 2011 as it investigated their accounting.
Google has reduced the amount of tax it pays in France by channelling its revenue through a Dutch-registered intermediary and then to a Bermuda-registered holding, Google Ireland Limited, before reporting it in low-tax Ireland.
Socialist France is currently one of the highest taxed countries in the world, with the top rate of income tax standing at 75 per cent.
According to court documents obtained by AFP, the French national news agency, Google France reported 192.9 million euros of revenue in 2012, and paid 6.5 million euros in tax on the 8.3 million euros of net profit it earned.
Analysts have meanwhile estimated that Google generated up to 1.4 billion in revenue in France in 2011, mainly through advertising.
Respected news magazine Le Point reports the claim by the French tax authorities, and these have been followed up by other media across the country.
The Paris exchequer refused to comment, saying anyone’s tax affairs are confidential. A spokesman for Google declined to comment too.
President Francois Hollande has led his country to economic ruin since his election in 2012. The unemployment rate is currently more than 11 per cent, while the cost of living is also spiralling
Figures released last week showed that foreign investment in France in 2013 – Mr Hollande’s first full year in power – was down by 77 per cent.
Faced with huge debts, France is determined to clamp down on multinational companies who avoid having to hand over huge parts of their income to failing national governments.
Credit: Daily Mail
