Google agrees 945-million-euro tax settlement with France

PARIS - US internet giant Google has agreed a settlement totaling 945 million euros ($1.0 billion) to end a tax dispute in France under an agreement announced in court on Thursday.

The company will pay a 500-million-euro fine for tax evasion, as well as a further 465 million euros to settle claims with French tax authorities.

In a statement, Google confirmed the settlement and hailed the fact it had put an end to fiscal differences that it had had with France for numerous years.

The settlement follows similar out-of-court agreements reached in Italy and Britain by Google in recent years, though the French agreement is much larger than the previous ones.

Google said it now wanted to see a coordinated reform for a clear international taxation framework.

French Justice Minister Nicole Galoubet and Budget Minister Gerald Darmanin welcomed the "definitive settling" of all the contentious issues, adding in a statement that it was the result of two years of intense work by the French authorities.

"This outcome is good news for the public finances and fiscal fairness in France," their statement said.

Belloubet said the settlement showed that the French authorities have the tools to ensure an equitable tax system.

"It is a historic settlement both for our public finances and because it marks the end of an era," Darmanin said. "By normalizing Google's situation in France, (the settlement) responds to our citizens' demands for fiscal fairness," he said.

G7 DEAL?

The settlement comes as France and its European allies seek to find common ground with the United States in a long-running dispute over the taxation of digital giants.

Google, like several other big American tech companies, has its European headquarters in Ireland, where the government has set the corporate tax rate at just 12.5 percent in a bid to attract big companies.

But leading EU states like France argue that this is allowing tech giants to avoid paying sufficient taxes on the huge profits and sales they accrue in big countries outside where the tech giants are headquartered.

The French parliament in July passed a law taxing digital giants on their French operations, drawing an angry response from US President Donald Trump and threats of retaliation.

The British government is now planning a similar move, at a time when it also hopes to build on its relationship with Washington as it exits the European Union.

But French President Emmanuel Macron said alongside Trump at the G7 summit in August that leaders had reached an agreement on the taxation of tech giants, though the precise details remain to be worked out.

Macron has said it will scrap its digital tax once a new international levy being discussed among the 134 OECD countries is in place, which Paris hopes will happen next year.

Pascal Saint-Amans, who is leading the negotiations as head of tax policy at the OECD, said after the G7 that progress is being made but several key issues still need to be hammered out.

The Google investigation in France was first opened by anti-fraud prosecutors in 2015 and was followed by searches at its Paris headquarters in 2016, an operation codenamed "Tulip" that mobilized a hundred police and experts.

In 2016, Google paid £130 million ($160,000) in a settlement with the British authorities and in 2017 agreed to pay 306 million euros to settle a tax dispute in Italy.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Activists occupy Paris Apple store over EU tax dispute

PARIS - About a hundred activists occupied an Apple store in the French capital Saturday, demanding that the US technology giant pay billions of euros the EU says it owes in back taxes.

The members from Attac, a group that seeks alternatives to unbridled globalization, invaded the expansive two-level store near the Paris Opera for several hours -- leaving only after they were assured of a meeting with management.

"One hundred Attac activists occupied the Apple store" to demand the company "pay its fair share of taxes in the country in which it really operates," spokeswoman Aurelie Trouve said.

Members standing on the second-level balcony held a banner reading "We will stop when Apple pays", while others held signs that read "Pay your taxes".

"We received a formal commitment from an Apple manager that we would be granted a meeting with national leadership within 15 days," Trouve told AFP.

"If this meeting does not take place, we will come back before Christmas".

The group held about 30 demonstrations across France on Saturday, including at an Apple store in the southern city of Marseille.

Apple France was not immediately available for comment.

In August 2016, European authorities estimated that the company behind the iPhone owed $14.5 billion in back taxes after it negotiated highly favorable tax arrangements with the Irish government.

Revelations last month from the "Paradise Papers" shed light on Apple's tax avoidance strategy, which shifted tens of billion of dollars in profits from one fiscal haven to another.

The report -- from a trove of documents released by the US-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) -- said Apple transferred funds to the small island of Jersey, which typically does not tax corporate income and is largely exempt from European Union tax regulations.

Apple has said it follows the law in each country it operates.

Attac also protested against the company last month on the day Apple released its iPhone X globally, dumping a load of freshly picked apples as demonstrators carried signs saying "Apple, pay your taxes" in the southern city of Aix-en-Provence.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Apple to pay Italy 318-M euros after tax fraud probe

ROME, Italy - Apple has agreed to pay Italy 318 million euros ($348 million) to settle a tax dispute after the US tech giant was investigated for suspected fraud, the country's tax agency said Tuesday.

The company's Italian subsidiary and several of its senior executives had been under investigation for fraud over its alleged failure to comply with obligations to declare its earnings in Italy between 2008 and 2013.

According to Italian daily La Repubblica, Apple Italia should have paid corporation tax of 880 million euros for the period.

But, after months of negotiations, the tax authorities agreed to close the case in return for a cheque for 318 million.

The tax office spokesman confirmed the newspaper's report was accurate but would not divulge further details.

Apple Italia did not respond immediately to a request for comment on a case which could set a precedent for other European countries' dealings with the company.

The settlement comes against a backdrop of mounting controversy over the tax arrangements of multinational groups who use cross-border corporate structures to reduce their tax bills.

Apple Italia is part of the company's European operation which is headquartered in Ireland, a country with one of the lowest levels of corporation tax in the European Union.

Ireland taxes corporate earnings from normal business activities at a rate of 12.5 percent, which compares with a standard 27.5 percent rate in Italy.

Earlier this month, Apple chief Tim Cook described accusations that the world's richest company was sidestepping US taxes by stashing cash overseas as "political crap" and insisted: "We pay ever tax dollar we owe."

The settlement of the tax dispute will not halt the criminal investigation into the conduct of three Apple Italia executives but will likely reduce the severity of any sanctions they may face, La Repubblica said.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com