Raid on Google’s offices in Paris – tax evasion is suspected – Göteborgs-Posten

Early in the morning of Tuesday, carried French authorities a raid on Google’s offices in Paris. Image: Stock Photography: AFP

Investigators today implementing a tax raid on Google’s offices in Paris, according to sources close to the Finance Ministry.

the IT giant Google’s Paris office has received påhälsning by police, writes news agency TT.

It was 05.00 on Tuesday morning that the French authorities took Google’s offices in Paris. The information was leaked by sources close to the French Finance Ministry told Reuters.

One hundred tax officials participated in the raid, according to the French newspaper Le parisiene. Police have confirmed the raid on the office, but Google itself has not yet commented on the incident, writes the BBC.

The reason for the raid is believed to be an ongoing investigation of tax evasion. Another source from the French Finance Ministry said in February this year that Google needed 1.6 billion euros in tax. The company has been criticized for widespread tax avoidance, according to Reuters.

On Tuesday told , a French prosecutor that an investigation of financial fraud and organized money laundering was launched against Google last June. Then Google went out with a statement in which they rejected the data, reports The Guardian.

It is not only in France that the IT giant has got into difficulties. Earlier this year Google went on to repay a tax debt of 130 million pounds in the UK. This should compensate for the unpaid taxes since 2005.

In the case of Google’s tax liability in the UK, the company’s tax structure allowed it to pay taxes in lågskattelandet Ireland, although it sold in the UK.

Though the company has agreed on to pay back 130 million pounds, rejected the company’s European Director Matt Britton that the reason for the requirement would depend on tax evasion. Instead, it was about Britain’s rules have changed in recent years, he said.

– The rules change on an international level, and Britain’s government takes a leading role in this development. We want to be sure that we are paying the correct tax amount, Britton said, according to BBC.