French Court Strikes Down Google VAT Bill

July 26, 2017

Charles Riordan

Author

Sovos

This blog was last updated on March 11, 2019

On July 12, 2017, the Tribunal Administratif de Paris struck down a bill of more than 1 billion euros assessed by the French government against Google for back taxes, including VAT. The Tribunal found in particular that Google did not have sufficient human and technical resources in France to subject the company to VAT; instead, the Tribunal held that Google was based in Ireland and merely carried out certain operations in France. The French government has stated that it will analyze the judgment with an eye towards a possible appeal.

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Charles Riordan

Charles Riordan is a member of the Regulatory Analysis team at Sovos specializing in international taxation, with a focus on Value Added Tax systems in the European Union. Charles received his J.D. from Boston College Law School in 2013 and is an active member of the Massachusetts Bar.