French police searched the Paris offices of US Internet giant Google on Tuesday as part of a tax fraud investigation. PHOTO: Reuters
PARIS: French police searched the Paris offices of US Internet giant Google on Tuesday as part of a tax fraud investigation, a police source said.
French authorities believe Google owes 1.6 billion euros ($1.7 billion) in back taxes, a source close to the matter said in February.
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Google is one of several multi-national corporations that have come under fire in Europe for paying extremely low taxes by shifting revenue across borders in an often complex web of financial arrangements.
Its European operations are headquartered in Ireland, which has some of the lowest corporate tax rates in the region.
Google France received a "notification" of the investigation back in March 2014, which did not give any precise figures.
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It has been raided by French authorities before, in June 2011, during an investigation into transfers to its Irish headquarters.
The company was not immediately available for comment on Tuesday.
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