By: David J. Herzig

Don’t ever say that The Surly Subgroup is not on some breaking news.  It is being reported starting at 5 am French time some 100 French authorities conducted a “ultra secrète” raid on Google’s Paris headquarters.  This past February, Google was assessed a deficiency of some 1.6 Billion euros in back taxes.

 

Une perquisition a lieu ce mardi au siège de Google à Paris.  LP/F. DUGIT

There is nothing really new about the Google tax story.  Members of the European Union are in constant complaint about the use of tax strategies used by multinationals.  With awesome names such as the Double Irish with a Dutch Sandwich, multinationals that have portable revenue generation items, e.g., algorithms, can house those assets in low tax EU jurisdictions such as Ireland.  By then using EU laws to their advantage, e.g., EU tax law protects companies from paying tax in a non-permanent establishment country, they can avoid or mitigate tax.

In January this year, Google settled similar claims with the United Kingdom.   Continue reading “French Tax Authorities Raid Google” →