Netflix raids in Europe, why?
Netflix offices in Paris (France) and Amsterdam (Netherlands) were raided on Tuesday. This is a Eurojust collaboration between France and the Netherlands, as part of a tax fraud investigation.
Is Netflix playing at hiding its profits to avoid paying (too much) tax? The investigation conducted in France by the National Financial Prosecutor's Office since 2022 is at the origin of searches carried out on Tuesday, November 5, 2024 in Paris. There is suspicion of laundering of aggravated tax fraud. Investigators also suspect the streaming giant of concealed work in an organized gang. Netflix France is also the subject of a tax audit for the financial years 2019 to 2021. But apparently, investigators from the Central Office for the Fight against Corruption and Financial and Tax Offenses are also looking for something else.
Amsterdam offices
Dutch justice is also conducting searches at Netflix's headquarters for Europe, the Middle East and Africa in Amsterdam. France suspects the company of declaring income in the Netherlands to reduce taxes through a financial arrangement up until 2021. The French tax authorities got suspicious in light of the turnover declared in 2021 compared to that of 2020. In fact, it increased from 47.1 million euros to 1.2 billion euros in 12 months. In addition, Netflix France's operating margin seemed to be very low compared to that of the parent company in the United States. For its part, Netflix claims to comply with the tax regulations of each country where it is active.
(MH with Olivier Duquesne - Source: 7sur7.be with AFP - Picture: © picture alliance / NurPhoto | Jakub Porzycki)