Google reached an agreement in France on a long-running dispute with the country’s tax authorities, which had led to a raid by financial crime officers on its Paris office in 2016. At the time, the company was reportedly asked to pay EUR 1.6 billion in back taxes, after being accused of tax optimisation practices. A Google spokesperson confirmed that a settlement had been reached, comprising a EUR 500 million fine ordered by a French court, in addition to a EUR 465 million payment for additional taxes.
Commenting on the news, Les Echos noted that the deal between Google and national prosecutors was inspired by the deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) common in the US system. This enables the company to close the legal case, reaching a financial settlement without admitting to the charges.
In April, a French court confirmed a ruling in favour of Google dating back to 2017, when the company had won a case against the French government over a EUR 1.1 billion tax adjustment for the 2005-2010 period. In this latest settlement, the EUR 1 billion deal reportedly covers activities from 2005 to 2018.
