Google Ireland pays the French unit for that support service, leaving a smaller profit in France than if the sales were booked in the country. The French tax authority argued that the structure is fictitious and that it believed French employees were actually selling ads in France. But in its decision, the court backed Google’s argument that its French employees were doing nothing more than preparatory work allowed under the Franco-Irish tax treaty. France’s tax authority has separately complained to France’s tax prosecutor, which said last year that it has been investigating the company since 2015 for aggravated tax evasion. Wednesday’s court decision that Google doesn’t owe any additional taxes could complicate that criminal case.

Source: Fox News July 13, 2017 08:12 UTC