Google wins challenge against 1.1B euro French tax bill

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-alphabet-tax-idUSKBN19X29Y

38 11 9 years ago

Wont the french appeal this?

jbmorgado• 9 years ago

From the article: "The ruling in favor of Google, now part of Alphabet Inc., followed a court adviser's recommendation that Google did not have a "permanent establishment" or sufficient taxable presence to justify the bill."

Google makes billions worth of business in the EU and yet they deem that Google doesn't have "sufficient taxable presence to justify the bill".

I would like to know what are the exact terms that specify what is a "sufficient taxable presence to justify the bill", since nothing seems to fit the description.

microcolonel2• 9 years ago

Google makes billions worth of business in the EU and yet they deem that Google doesn't have "sufficient taxable presence to justify the bill".

Their taxable presence is in the EU, just not in France.

You can't have the "common market" and have one tax jurisdiction per member state served, that is outrageous.

colorint• 9 years ago

Just like it's outrageous to have state and local taxes in the US, am I right?

puzzle• 9 years ago

From the article: "The Paris administrative court ruled that Google Ireland Limited was not subject to corporate and value-added taxes for the period 2005-2010". Presumably, GIL has no presence in France and Google France is a separate entity.

_rpd• 9 years ago

Presence is traditionally established by buildings, equipment, local employees, and other very physical and visible indications. Tax law is still trying to cope with international outsourcing, let alone mostly virtual operations like e-commerce. It's one reason for the shift to consumption taxes.

mugsie• 9 years ago

Google makes billions worth of business in the EU and yet they deem that Google doesn't have "sufficient taxable presence to justify the bill".

From Ireland. Where it pays (some) tax.

I would like to know what are the exact terms that specify what is a "sufficient taxable presence to justify the bill", since nothing seems to fit the description.

Single market means that a company in Ireland can sell to anyone in the EU, and pay Irish taxes[0]. Its one of the basic tenants of the single market.

0 - This is changing with newer VAT rules, which mean that you pay the VAT of the country you sell the goods / services in, but they were not in effect during the period that this lawsuit covers

Google wins challenge against 1.1B euro French tax bill

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