Google's Paris headquarters raided in probe into "aggravated financial fraud and organized money laundering"

Google's tax affairs in Europe have been the subject of some interest for a while now. Today the company's headquarters in Paris was raided by French investigators as part of an ongoing financial probe.

While other European countries have questioned whether Google is paying enough tax, in France the company finds itself accused of "aggravated financial fraud and organized money laundering". It is also accused of evading taxes by channelling money through other countries.

The arrangement Google uses -- which sees the majority of its European income processed through an Irish company -- is quite common, particularly in the tech world. But prosecutors say they want to determine whether this Irish company actually controls a "permanent establishment" in France which would make it liable for additional tax.

The extremely low tax rate in Ireland means that Google was attracted to Dublin to use as a base for its international headquarters. While the company operates offices throughout Europe, these are considered -- by Google, at least -- satellite businesses. French prosecutors sent around 100 investigators to the company's Paris offices, and issued a statement:

These searches form part of a preliminary enquiry opened on 16 June 2015 relating to acts of aggravated financial fraud and organised laundering of aggravated financial fraud, following a complaint from the French tax authorities.

It went on to say:

The enquiry is focused on verifying whether the company Google Ireland Ltd controls a permanent establishment in France and if, by not declaring a part of the activities conducted on French territory, it has failed in its fiscal obligations, notably regarding taxes on companies and value-added tax.

Google issued a statement saying:

We comply with French law and are cooperating fully with the authorities to answer their questions.

In the UK, Google managed to come to an arrangement with the government to reduce back tax it owed, but this is unlikely to happened in France. French authorities believe Google owes €1.6 billion ($1.8 billion) but it's not clear how long the investigations will go on for.

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