EU takes closer look at Google’s tax arrangement in Ireland

Bloomberg

The European Union has taken a closer look at how Google uses operations in Ireland to help reduce its corporate tax obligations within the trade bloc, two people familiar with the
matter said.
Officials from the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, held in-depth talks with Irish authorities late last year about whether the Internet-search unit of Alphabet Inc. complies with rules limiting tax perks
provided by individual European governments, according to one person, who as-ked not to be named as the matter is private.
The review was preliminary and might not lead to any formal investigation, the person said. According to another person, an EU investigation isn’t imminent and some Irish authorities are optimistic that initial conversations proved sufficient to avoid a more extensive probe of the company’s tax arrangements. Irish Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe discussed a potential tax case with EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, one person said.
Google declined to comment, as did the European Commission. The Irish Times reported that Donohoe declined to comment on any possible examination of Google’s tax planning.
“We’ve a very good working relationship with the European Commission, and it’s up to them to determine what kind of investigations they feel are needed across the European Union,” he said, according to the newspaper. EU officials have been cracking down in recent years on efforts by big global companies to limit their European tax burdens. Vestager, who is now seeking a top EU job, ordered Apple Inc. to pay back
billions of euros to Ireland, and she backed a push by France to tax Internet firms more heavily.