Google paid just 6.7 million euros in corporate taxes in 2015 in France by booking revenues for its online empire at its European subsidiary in low-tax Ireland, a legal loophole prized by multinationals.
The group employs 700 people in France but advertising contracts for its search engine or video-sharing website YouTube are signed with its Irish subsidiary. The French claim was the latest in a series against the California-based group, which faces mounting legal problems in the EU. European action has become increasingly aggressive against US technology giants Amazon, Facebook and Apple as well as Google.
The EU hit Google with a record 2.4 billion euro fine on June 27 for abusing its dominant position in the search engine business and illegally favouring its own shopping service over rivals. In 2016, European competition chief Margrethe Vestager shocked Washington and the world by ordering iPhone manufacturer Apple to repay 13 billion euros in back taxes in Ireland after paying a near-zero rate of tax some years. Newly elected French President Emmanuel Macron promised to get tough on US internet giants during his campaign, seeing their low tax rates as a source of resentment about globalisation and unfair on European companies.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2017