Google and the tax authorities in the UK recently came to an agreement where Google will pay a £130 million pound settlement for taxes in the UK between 2005 and 2015.
The deal was agreed between Google and the UK tax authorities, although the UK Government has come under a lot of criticism over the last few days for allowing the deal to go ahead.
Now it would appear that the European regulators will be looking into the agreement between Google and the UK Taxman.
Margrethe Vestager who is the European commissioner for competition said in a recent interview with BBC Radio 4 that they may investigate the deal and said that these “sweetheart deals” can amount to “illegal state aid,”.
“If we find that there is something to be concerned about, if someone writes to us and says, well, this is maybe not as it should be, then we will take a look,” said Vestager.
One UK politician, Stewart Hosie of the SNP has said that he has written a letter to the European Commission, so it looks like a possible investigation may take place.
Company’s like Google, Apple, Amazon and Starbucks are under increasing scrutiny in Europe for the way they conduct their tax affairs.
The problem is that none of the company’s are doing anything illegal, the tax laws need to change in order for these larger companies to pay more tax in the UK and Europe.
There could be changes on the way as 31 countries in Europe recently signed an agreement to stop large company’s using intricate tax laws to avoid paying tax in countries where they operate.
Source The Verge
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