Spanish authorities raid Google offices over tax

June 30: Spanish officials raided Google’s Madrid offices on Thursday in a probe related to its payment of taxes, a person familiar with the matter said, barely a month after the internet company had its headquarters in France searched on suspicion of tax evasion.

A spokeswoman for Google said in a brief statement the company complied with fiscal legislation in Spain just as it did in all countries where it operated. The company was working with authorities to answer all questions, the spokeswoman added.

Google is under pressure across Europe from politicians and the public upset at how multinationals exploit their presence around the world to minimise their tax bills.

Spanish authorities did not immediately respond to request for comments on the swoop.

Google, part of Alphabet Inc, pays little tax in most of Europe because it reports almost all sales in Ireland. This is possible thanks to a loophole in international tax law and hinges on staff in Dublin concluding all sales contracts.

The Paris raid aimed to establish whether Google Ireland has a permanent base there, and whether the firm was meeting its tax obligations. Reuters

June 30: Google has bought the entire 12-year power production from a yet-to-be-built Norwegian wind power farm to supply its European data centers with renewable energy, its developers said on Thursday. Norway’s Zephyr and Norsk Vind Energi said the 160-megawatt capacity onshore Tellenes wind power farm south of Stavanger is expected to be fully operational in late 2017, and when built it would become the largest wind power farm in the Nordic country. “Google has been carbon-neutral since 2007 and we are committed to powering 100% of our operations with renewable energy sources,” said Marc Oman, EU Energy Lead, Google Global Infrastructure. Reuters