Google office in Paris raided

(Baonghean.vn) - French newspaper Le Parisien reported that more than 100 police and tax officials participated in the raid on Google's offices in Paris on the morning of May 24 local time.

Illustration: dpa.

The French government has accused the US tech giant of tax evasion.

Local media reported that the searches continued until noon on May 24 at Google's offices in the French capital, as part of a tax fraud investigation.

A source from the French Finance Ministry confirmed the information published in the daily Le Parisien: “The raid is underway.”

The incident took place at an office building in the Bercy suburbs of Paris, starting at around 5am local time.

French authorities believe tech giant Google owes 1.6 billion euros ($1.7 billion) in back taxes, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Controversy has arisen around the tax arrangements of some multinational corporations that operate in several European countries, but pay the majority of their taxes in just one EU country – usually Ireland or Luxembourg.

Companies under scrutiny

Google's European operations are headquartered in Ireland's capital Dublin, which has the lowest corporate tax rate in the region.

Google France received a “notification” of the investigation in March 2014, but the notice did not provide any exact figures.

Previously, in June 2011, the office was also raided by French authorities during an investigation into money transfers to headquarters in Ireland.

In January, Google agreed to pay £130 million (€169 million) in back taxes to the UK, sparking criticism that tax authorities had been too lax in monitoring the search giant. The European Commission then launched an investigation into whether the deal was fair and equitable.

A spokesperson for tech giant Google has yet to comment on the May 24 raid.

Thao Linh

(According to DW)