The Spanish authorities have made a raid on the Madrid offices of technology giant Google as part of an investigation into the multinational’s tax arrangements, which have come under scrutiny in a number of European countries
The move comes just a few weeks after the French authorities made an early morning raid on Google’s Paris offices, in a separate case relating to whether or not the company has a permanent base there.
The latest raid was approved by a court in the capital and followed a request by the Spanish tax authorities, according to a brief statement by the Madrid High Court.
According to reports in the Spanish media, the tax authorities suspect Google of not declaring some of its activities in Spain.
The reports claim the investigation is focused on VAT payments and taxes on income obtained by companies or people in Spain that were not registered as residents in the country.
A Google spokesman said: ‘We comply with the tax law in Spain, as in every other country in which we operate. We are cooperating fully with the authorities in Madrid to answer their questions, as always.’
Last year, Google agreed a deal with HMRC to pay £130m in back taxes after coming under fire over the low levels of corporation tax payments made by the company. Google routes much of its European revenues via its office in Ireland, where the corporation tax rate is lower than the UK.
