French Tax Investigators Raid Google's French Headquarters

By Sam Schechner

PARIS--Dozens of tax investigators swept into Google's French headquarters on Tuesday, part of a continuing probe into alleged tax evasion by the Internet giant, prosecutors said.

The raid comes as part of a newly disclosed 2015 probe by France's tax prosecutors into aggravated tax evasion by the company, now a part of Alphabet Inc.

Prosecutors say they were acting on a complaint from France's tax authority, which has for years been locked in a battle with Google, demanding back taxes and fines of more than 1 billion euros ($1.12 billion), according to people familiar with the matter.

"We are cooperating with the authorities to answer their questions. We comply fully with French law," a Google spokesman said.

At issue in the French case is whether Google, which collects the vast majority of its revenue from European clients at its Irish unit, does more business in France with French clients than it has declared.

Google's French arm employs hundreds of salespeople and programmers, but revenue comes from Google's other units to cover its costs, according to financial filings.

Write to Sam Schechner at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 24, 2016 09:32 ET (13:32 GMT)

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