Authorities raid Google's France office

quist 13:02 - 25 May 2016

This is believed to be a part of ongoing investigations upon suspicion of tax evasion as the company has been accused of owing close to 1.6 billion Euros in defaulted taxes.

Reports from Google’s Paris headquarter suggest that the France office of the online giant was raided in the early hours of Wednesday.

The Independent reports that Wednesday morning’s raid was the second time Google’s Paris headquarters had been searched, the first being in June 2011.

Analysts say the current tax impasse appears to be an isolated case as there has been no such reports in other Google European offices in Ireland.

It is also believed that the European Union’s new resolve to strictly police the tax compliance of multinational companies operating in the region, to ensure that their taxes are being paid to member countries and not their home countries, strongly instigated Google’s raid.

Google said: “We comply with French law and are co-operating fully with the authorities to answer their questions,” according to Independent.co.uk.

The Independent again reports that In January, Google agreed to pay back 3 per cent in tax or £130 million, to the UK tax authorities in a deal slammed by MEPs as “not fair competition” even as the Chancellor George Osborne heralded the deal as a “major success”.