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France Seeking $1.76 Billion In Back Taxes From Google (reuters.com)

Posted by yaelk on from the tax-money dept.

An anonymous reader writes: According to a Reuters insider, France is seeking 1.6 billion euros in back taxes from Google, dwarfing what the United Kingdom recently agreed to pay. France apparently has no interest in striking the same 'sweetheart tax' deal that put the UK into a critical light when it revealed that the search giant would pay only 130 million pounds of tax, a $181.18 million settlement, for over 10 years in multi-billion dollar trade in the UK.

4 of 195 comments (clear)

  1. pump your brakes, slashdotters. by nimbius · · Score: 4, Informative

    I know the site has a pretty staunch libertarian lean, but its important to rememember: Google rakes in around 17 billion dollars per quarter.

    france wants backtaxes for multiple years totalling ~2% of an entire years revenue.

    --
    Good people go to bed earlier.
  2. Re:Doesn't add up, greater than 100% tax! by Harlequin80 · · Score: 3, Informative

    Your numbers are out more than just a little.... Google took in 74.15 billion in revenue in 2015. France isn't looking for 10% of Google's revenue. They are looking for back taxes over the period in which Google operated in France which looks to have averaged 1.2 billion euro over the past 5 years.

  3. Re:Good for France by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    In most countries the tax laws are the way they are because each nation's government has created loopholes for its own big corporations and businesses. England, for example, has a terrible rate on taxation of its own companies. Rolls-Royce clears £1.1B in profits every year and only pays £2M in taxes. It's just easier for them to point fingers at American corporations and scream in outrage than to admit they are hypocrites. Old news.

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2287216/Revealed-One-UKs-companies-pay-tax.html

    Meanwhile, the same happens in France. Special benefits for French corporations only. Again, far easier to anger citizens and rally them against the US than admit the truth.
    http://www.courthousenews.com/2015/09/02/french-corporate-tax-loophole-ruled-illegal.htm

  4. Re:long or short scale? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    In France, 1 billion means 1 million million. (which is far more logical. A billion is a bi-million, million times a million).

    1 billion (US) = 1 milliard (France) = 1000 million.