After the adventure with the French authorities raiding the Google offices in Paris, the company experienced a similar situation in its offices in Spain. Tax authorities raided Google's headquarters last week in search of evidence linking the company to possible tax evasion, according to Spanish media reports.
The raid took place on Thursday morning, June 30, at Google's "Madrid Campus" as the company calls its local headquarters.
The authorities were seeking VAT which had not been paid by Google. Initially, Google employees refused entry to the tax authorities, but not for long. The inspection lasted until 18: 30 in the evening.
A Google spokesman said after the survey that the company complies with local tax law and will work with the tax authorities of Spain.
At the end of May, French authorities raided the company's headquarters in Paris, arguing that Google owes France 1,6 billion euros.
Earlier this year, Google had problems and with the British authorities, who accused the company of not paying taxes in recent years. So Google agreed to pay 130 million pounds over the last ten years. However, the French authorities do not seem so keen on such a settlement.
All three countries are investigating Google for the same reason. Like many other multinationals Companies, Google directs its profits from the above three countries to its base in Ireland, because the country has the lowest tax rates in Europe.