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Comment by thomasjoulin | Hacker News Reader

While satirical, they specialize in investigations, especially related to insider knowledge and whistle blowers. Only the tone is not serious, the content is alway backed with proofs.

Le Monde, an authoritative newspaper as well as others picked up the news too [1]

The Google News issue seems a different matter, the billion in question is due to an (alleged) tax fraud using the technique of the Double Irish with a Dutch Sandwich [2]

[1] (fr) http://www.lemonde.fr/technologies/article/2012/10/30/le-fis...

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_Irish_arrangement

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How is that a tax fraud if it's legal? One of the goal of the EU is the ability to operate a business from one member state to another without any taxation or customs fees. So asking Google to pay these is ridiculous.

The goal is allow businesses to operate between member states as easily as within them, which includes preventing double taxation. The Double Irish thing is exploiting a loophole created by the combination of such EU regulations and peculiarities of the Durch and Irish tax codes, to effectively avoid taxation entirely, which may not be against the letter of the law, but certainly against its spirit.

It's quite possible for such things to be retroactively declared invalid, such as in the case of Hoolywood's "stupid German money": http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/media/2003-08-11-hollyw...

This is true, but Google is hardly the only company using these loopholes in the EU. It makes little sense to make them an example, unless you were also trying to pressure them on another front (newspapers).

Why not go for the best biggest payday and make a lesson for everyone else to fall in line?

well, at least Apple and Microsoft would make for bigger paydays, and I'm sure there are more. Apple obviously has far higher revenue and profits, and they earn the majority of both abroad.

It is possible they'll go for all the big players, though, who knows.

Ok, I stand corrected.

I just thought it's a pretty weird source. Especially the "without citing sources" sounded fishy to me.

They are well known for protecting their sources, and for doing a thorough job in having multiple independent confirmations.

The "Canard Enchainé" is one of the oldest french newspaper still in print, and probably the only one not using ads or receiving public help.

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