French Police Raids Google Paris Offices For Tax Probe

On May 24, French police raided Google's Paris headquarters. The company is allegedly being investigated for ongoing tax evasion and money laundering cases.

According to French newspaper Le Parisien, the raid started from 5AM, involving some 100 officials. Reportedly, the raid went up until the afternoon.

The prosecutor's office released a statement to the Associated Press, claiming that the investigated was preliminarily opened last year. The investigation is now being carried out to find out if Goole Ireland has the necessary documents to allow it to operate in France and it has the evidence that it has been adhering to its tax obligations to France. 

"These searches are the result of a preliminary investigation opened on June 16, 2015 relative to aggravated tax fraud and organized money laundering following a complaint from French fiscal authorities," the statement reads. 

"The investigation is aimed at finding out whether Google Ireland Ltd. is permanently established in France and if, by not declaring some of its activity on French soil, it has failed to meet its fiscal obligations, in particular with regard to corporation tax and value added tax."

For its part, Google claimed that it has been paying its taxes correctly. "We're a global company. We have to abide by tax laws everywhere, we do abide by local tax laws in every single country," Google CEO Sundar Pichai said when he visited Paris earlier this year. "We're advocating strongly for a simpler global tax system," Pichai added.

However, while French authorities have demanded that Google compensaet €1.6 billion ($1.8 billion) in back taxes, the company wants to negotiate the amount to $185 million in unpaid taxes to British authorities. French Finance Minister Michael Sapin said no negotiations are allowed.

When it comes to the raid, a spokesperson for Google claimed that they are being cooperative through an email to the Verge. "We comply with French law and are cooperating fully with the authorities to answer their questions."