PARIS: French tax authorities are seeking €356m (£276m) in unpaid taxes from Booking.com, a unit of Priceline Group, according to a filing by the parent company to the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Booking.com advert cleared despite complaints over ‘substitute swearword’
Priceline Group said the tax authorities had recently concluded a more than two-year audit of Booking.com’s accounts from 2003 to 2012.“In December 2015, the French tax authorities issued Booking.com assessments for approximately €356m, the majority of which would represent penalties and interest,” Priceline Group said in a filing dated 4 May and seen by Reuters.
France’s tax authorities say Booking.com had a permanent base in France and is seeking to recover unpaid income and value-added taxes, the filing showed.
Priceline Group said Booking.com had always complied with French tax law. “If the company is unable to resolve the matter with the French authorities, it would expect to challenge the assessments in the French courts,” Priceline Group said in the filing, which was first reported by Paris Match magazine on Wednesday.
Last week, French police raided Google’s Paris headquarters, escalating an investigation into the company on suspicion of tax evasion.
