After French authorities did the same thing in May, Spanish tax authorities raided Google 's headquarters last week looking to collect evidence of possible tax evasion. The raid took place on Thursday morning, June 30, at Google's "Madrid Campus," as the local headquarters is called.
The authorities launched an investigation related to Google's unpaid taxes (VAT) and the taxes concerning non-residents.
Initially, Google employees refused entry to the building to the tax authorities, but not for long.
The inspection lasted until 6:30 p.m.
A Google spokesperson told media after the investigation that the company would comply with local tax laws and would now cooperate with Spanish tax authorities.
In late May, French authorities raided Google's Paris headquarters in an investigation related to a case in which the country's tax agency said Google owed 1.6 billion euros ($1.8 billion) in back taxes.
Earlier this year, Google reached an agreement with the British authorities, after it was also accused of tax evasion in recent years. Google agreed to pay 130 million pounds in taxes for the past ten years. However, the French authorities were not willing to reach a similar settlement.
All three countries investigated Google for the same thing.
Just like many other multinational companies, Google sends its profits to Ireland because it has the lowest corporate taxes in Europe. In this way, Google and many other companies avoid paying taxes on the profits they make in other EU countries.
From a legal standpoint, international law allows Google to sign all sales contracts through the Google Ireland division.
