Spanish tax investigators raid Google’s Madrid offices

Tax investigators in Spain have raided Google’s Madrid offices, in the latest investigation into the group’s tax affairs.

Google said it complies with Spanish finance laws and will cooperate with authorities.

French investigators raided Google’s Paris headquarters last month, saying the company was under investigation for aggravated financial fraud and organised money laundering.

France, Britain and other countries have complained about the way Google, Apple, Yahoo and other technology companies generate profits in their countries but funnel them elsewhere.

Ireland is often identified as the problem third location in such complaints.

Back taxes

In January, Google agreed to pay £130 million (€157m) in back taxes to the UK Treasury, but the announcement triggered uproar from tax campaigners and opposition MPs, because it meant that HM Revenue and Customs had effectively allowed the firm to continue routing its UK sales through its business in Ireland.

French prosecutors have said they want to establish whether the Irish company through which Google funnels the majority of its European revenues does in fact control a “permanent establishment” in France

Google maintains that its offices in Paris, London and other European capitals are not fully fledged businesses, but operate as satellites of its international headquarters in Dublin, providing back-office services such as marketing.

In February, it emerged that France was seeking €1.6 billion in back taxes from Google.

Guardian Service