France is back, seeking to plug tax loopholes with a vengeance.
In July, a French court rejected claims that Google abused loopholes to avoid paying its fair share of taxes. This follows a similar attempt made by the U.K. last year, in which Google settled for $168 million in back taxes.
European countries have filed several claims against U.S. tech giants in recent years—most notably a $14.5 billion case against Apple. Companies like Google and Apple have historically registered their European entities in Ireland, Luxembourg or the Netherlands to make use of advantageous tax rates. While the loophole used by Apple was technically closed, companies that registered before 2015 can continue to take advantage of it until 2020.
