tax Stories April 16, 2018
John Oliver calls out Google, Apple, and others over not paying corporate taxes [Video]
John Oliver, host of the irreverent HBO series, Last Week Tonight, called out a number of companies, including Google, about not paying corporate taxes in the US.
tax Stories January 2, 2018
A common critique of Google, and frankly most major multinational companies, is the reliance on loopholes to reduce international taxes. The same process occurred in 2016 with tax shelters saving Google at least $3.7 billion in taxation.
tax Stories July 13, 2017
A French court has ruled against the country’s own tax authority, and decided that Google need not pay a €1.11B ($1.27B) tax bill. Although the ruling so far applies only to Google and only in France, it sets a precedent that could influence other cases in Europe.
The French government took the view that when Google sold ads to French companies, that revenue was earned in France, and was subjected to taxes there. Accordingly, it sent the company a bill for almost $1.3B, covering ads sold in the country between 2005 and 2010, down from an earlier demand for €1.6B …
tax Stories May 4, 2017
Google settles Italian tax dispute with $334 million payment
Following a settlement with Russia last month over Android pre-install restrictions, Google has agreed (via Reuters) to pay Italy €306 million in unpaid taxes from 2002 through 2015.
tax Stories May 24, 2016
Update: The financial prosecutor’s office has confirmed that the raid took place, and is part of an investigation in to tax evasion and money laundering. As reported by Reuters:
The investigation, which started in June last year, aims to verify whether Google Ireland Ltd (GOOGL.O) has failed in its fiscal obligations in France, the prosecutor’s office said in statement.
According to several breaking news reports, Google’s headquarters in Paris are being raided this morning by French investigators as part of a probe into the US company’s tax payments. Both Le Parisien and Reuters were informed by sources that a search is underway at the HQ in Paris’s 9th district.
tax Stories March 28, 2016
TNW reports that the European Commission is pressing ahead with proposals to make Google News pay a fee for linking to news stories on the web. The EC says that as search results include a short excerpt from the piece, and that text is protected by copyright, Google must pay.
Three European countries have tried this, and it failed in all three. In Spain, Google simply decided to close Google News in that country, and news websites lost 10-15% of their traffic overnight. Spanish publishers – who had originally demanded the law – quickly realized their mistake and tried to pass a new law that would somehow force Google to return …
