The long arm of the law has not been impeded by the strikes, demonstrations or petrol shortages in France.
In the midst of the chaos enveloping the country, French police announced on Thursday that they had raided the French headquarters of hamburger chain McDonald’s as part of a tax fraud investigation.
The raid was said to have been conducted on 18 May. On Tuesday 24 May, agents raided the French HQ of Google on suspicion of tax evasion.
During the McDonald’s search, documents were seized.
French authorities suspect McDonald's has been tampering illegally with its tax liabilities by funnelling earnings gained in France to Luxembourg, where its European headquarters is based. Corporate taxes are significantly lower in Luxembourg.
Last month, McDonald’s France received a bill of €300 million for unpaid tax on profits on French sales which the authorities suspect were siphoned through Luxembourg.
McDonald management did not comment on the bill at the time, but did say that it is “one of the biggest tax-paying companies in France". It also pointed out that it has paid €1.2 billion in tax since 2009 and created 10,000 jobs in the process.
France has more than 1,300 McDonald's outlets which is the second highest in Europe after Germany. The chain boasts annual sales in France of just over €4.4 billion, making France the biggest earner in Europe.
Meanwhile at Google this week dozens of specialist officers, along with 25 IT specialists, searched the headquarters as part of an investigation into aggravated tax fraud and organised laundering of the proceeds of tax fraud. The probe, triggered by a complaint by the French tax authorities, started in June last year but was only made public on Tuesday.
"The investigation aims to verify whether Google Ireland Ltd has a permanent base in France and if, by not declaring parts of its activities carried out in France, it failed its fiscal obligations, including on corporate tax and value added tax," the prosecutor's office said in statement.
Google reports nearly all of its European sales in Ireland.
Al Verney, a spokesman for Google in Europe, said in an email: "We are cooperating with the authorities to answer their questions. We comply fully with French law."
