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EU: Vestager says they not investigating Google’s European tax deals

By  |  October 10, 2016

EU regulators who are investigating whether Alphabet unit Google is abusing its market power have has not extended their scrutiny to its tax deals with national authorities across Europe, the EU’s antitrust chief said on Monday.

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    Margrethe Vestager, who in recent months ordered Apple to pay up to 13 billion euros in back taxes to Ireland and Starbucks up to 30 million euros to the Dutch tax office, said Google was not on her radar for now.

    “So far, no, we have nothing formal on that one,” Vestager told reporters.

    She said she had not received any formal complaint from the Scottish National Party which in January sent a letter to the European Commission concerning Google’s 130-million-pound back tax deal with British tax authorities which some British politicians criticized as a derisory amount.

    Vestager also defended the slow pace of the Commission’s antitrust cases against Google, saying she wanted the shopping case to be water-tight. This first case has dragged on since 2010 when her predecessor kicked off the investigation.

    “I am as sorry as you and everyone else that antitrust work is taking a lot of time,” she told European lawmakers earlier on Monday.

    “But it is also a sign that this is a case that is building in its strength as well as a case which is of course strictly following our procedures to make sure that also here we build up the rule of law.”

    Vestager said she did not know when she would issue a decision but the case was a very high priority for her.

    Full Content: Reuters

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