Osborne needs to explain himself over Google deal, demands French MEP
The chancellor and head of Google should explain tax deal in front of European Parliamentary Committee
EUROPEAN MINISTERS want to drag George Osborne (pictured) into the European Parliamentary Committee to explain himself over the “very bad deal” that has been agreed between HMRC and Google.
The tax authority recently announced that Google has agreed to pay £130m in back taxes following a six-year investigation from the government department. The deal has been widely criticised by finance professionals, with shadow chancellor John McDonnell labelling it as a “sweetheart payment”.
French MEP Eva Joly told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that the UK is “preparing itself to become a tax haven” for multinationals and has called for more transparency when these types of deals are announced.
“Information must be disclosed to the tax administration and the public as well,” said the vice chair of the Special European Parliamentary Committee on Tax Rulings, who added that the chancellor will be called by the committee to explain himself over the agreement.
“We want Mr Osborne… to come in front of our committee to tell us about the deal because it’s not fair competition,” continued the MEP.
Joly also said that the committee intends on hearing from the head of Google and the Italian finance minister, as it has been reported today that Italy is to agree a much tougher tax deal with the technology company.
