Stefan Mileschin

While the UK is pleased to let Google get away with paying trivial amounts of tax, the French who since the death of Napoleon, are not renowned for standing up to big threats are refusing to negotiate with the bullying search engine outfit.

French Finance Minister Michel Sapin ruled out striking a deal with Google over back taxes as the British government recently did with the US internet giant.

“French tax authorities do not negotiate the amount of taxes owed, there is a discussion underway about which rules apply, that’s perfectly legitimate,” Sapin told journalists on the sidelines of a finance sector conference.

Sapin told the conference that the sums at stake in France were “far greater” than those in Britain, where Google reached a $187.11 million settlement for the period since 2005.

The negotiation caused an outcry particularly since the government is chasing poor people for small sums of tax but seems to have given Google a get out of jail free card for millions over the last decade.

http://www.techeye.net/business/fran...nder-to-google