Yesterday, Eliane Houlette, national financial prosecutor, gave more details on the search magnitude organized in local Google France.
Last week, hundreds of tax officials and law enforcement brigade of the great financial crime (BRGDF), including 25 computer experts, searched the premises of Google France. In a statement released the same day, the financial national Parquet dropped big words, evoking a possible aggravated tax fraud and a tape laundering organized tax fraud.
Google, among Dutch tulip and Irish shamrock
the aim of this procedure is simple on paper: is the fruit of the activity of the motor in our country is traceable to our jurisdiction, or can he continue to rise in arm of Google Ireland? To find out, it is first to determine if Google has in our country of a “permanent establishment”. The company has always defended the opposite view: it does realize that in our country marketing operations. This line of defense allows it to enjoy the Irish tunnel, according to tax treaty signed between Paris and Dublin in 1968.
As explained, the goal of this search is to bring as many elements to consecrate this relocation and especially measuring the amplitude of the benefits concerned. Yesterday, on the antenna of the Grand Rendez-Vous Europe 1- The World- iTV, Eliane Houlette, which directs the financial parquet, given other elements to “ tulip ” code name this survey.
a survey offline protection
Having received a complaint from the tax authorities in June 2015, it evokes a fight “ David and Goliath “, the company is the largest capitalization in the world.
” We treated this complaint in total privacy due to the activity of this company. And so, to ensure the complete confidentiality within the prosecution, we decided never to utter the name “Google” but give it another name, Tulip . ” A flowery reference to Holland, where one of the parent companies was registered. “ We worked this folder only outside networks offline for almost a year, with a computer only in word processing mode, so to speak” .
This caution n is not so much directed against the American giant that foreign intelligence services, including American. All countries have weapons technology to spy on hot topics that could threaten one of the jewels of their industry. France has not escaped this rule, formalizing these indiscretions through the law on surveillance of international communications.
Google France, a company that used to “screen”
the head of PNF well summarized the issue: the members of the Google galaxy “ hardly pay by tax because, through an establishment, Google France, which employs 700 people, they conclude advertising contracts with economic players and this company serves as a screen. Google claims that it is the Irish company, first parent who works and has no permanent establishment “in France.
Google does not expect a trial in the coming days, with services distributed with trucks of information. During the search, “ we raised a lot of computer data, I think there are several terabytes of documents, at least as far as Panama Papers, maybe even more. It will take several months, I hope it will not be many years for use . ” Problem: “ We are very limited in terms of technological material means. We would highly efficient software which we do not have. These are software that cost about 200 000 . ”
This is not beneficial to anyone, even Google will have to drag a disastrous image over the entire period. About the Eliane Houlette reveal in any case a curious side of the French Touch : this Bercy unable to get paid tools sold a few hundred thousand, so what discussed possible recovery of 1.6 billion euros.
Marc Rees
Journalist, editor Law, LCEN, private copying, terrorism, personal data, surveillance, privacy, and all these things …
No comments:
Post a Comment