Lawmaker accuses Google of dodging taxes
Source: AP
An influential committee of British lawmakers accused search company Google of dodging its taxes on Thursday in a scathing report that said the U.S. Internet company took on highly contrived arrangements serving no purpose other than to avoid paying its fair share.
The report came after testimony by Google Inc. Vice President Matt Brittin, who tried to persuade members of parliament's Public Accounts Committee that his company was transparent and fair. Committee chair Margaret Hodge rejected arguments that Google's advertising sales take place in Ireland and not the U.K.
"Google brazenly argued before this committee that its tax arrangements in the U.K. are defensible and lawful," she wrote, adding that the "argument is deeply unconvincing and has been undermined by information from whistleblowers, including ex-employees of Google, who told us that U.K.-based staff are engaged in selling."
Hodge said the government needs to act to shut down loopholes. "The company's highly contrived tax arrangement has no purpose other than to enable the company to avoid U.K. corporation tax," she said.
Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/lawmaker-accuses-google-dodging-taxes-065701089.html
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