French police and prosecutors swooped on Google's Paris offices on Tuesday, intensifying a tax-fraud probe amid accusations across Europe that the Internet giant fails to pay its fair share.
The raids are part of preliminary criminal investigation opened in June 2015 after French tax authorities lodged a complaint, according to a statement from the nation's financial prosecutor. The probe is seeking to verify whether Google's Irish unit has permanent establishment in France and whether the firm failed to declare part of its revenues in France.
Prosecutors will probably go after Google's management in Ireland, according to Alain Frenkel, a tax lawyer in Paris. "That doesn't mean Google won't also face a recovery order from France's tax authorities," he said in a phone interview.
