Google Paris Offices Raided In £1.2 Billion Tax Probe

Paris: Google’s offices in Paris have been raided by police in an investigation into money laundering and “aggravated tax fraud”.

The dawn raid, which involved around 100 investigators, is part of a probe into whether the internet giant has evaded corporation tax in France by diverting profits to its European base in Ireland.

French authorities believe that Google owes some £1.2bn in corporation tax and VAT. The raid comes months after the company agreed to pay £130m in back taxes to the US government and amid growing scrutiny of the tax affairs of Silicon Valley’s multinationals.

Google, like many major tech groups, bases its European operations in Ireland, where corporation taxes are lower than much of Europe, and registers sales from many other countries there.

But the company is now facing increasing scrutiny amid growing anger at multinationals’ tax affairs. French authorities are now trying to establish whether sales registered in Ireland were in fact conducted in France.

“These searches are the result of a preliminary investigation opened on June 16, 2015 relative to aggravated tax fraud and organized money laundering following a complaint from French fiscal authorities,” the French prosecutor’s office said. “The investigation is aimed at finding out whether Google Ireland Ltd. is permanently established in France and if, by not declaring some of its activity on French soil, it has failed to meet its fiscal obligations, in particular with regard to corporation tax and value added tax,” the office added.