In 2016, Google transferred €15,9 billion to a shell company in Bermuda, thus avoiding paying a huge amount of taxes. This was revealed by the Bloomberg agency, which cites Dutch regulatory documents.
In particular, Google uses two structures, known as "Double Irish" and "Dutch Sandwich", to protect the majority of its international profits from taxation.
The scheme involves moving revenues from an Irish branch to a Dutch company with no employees and then to a Bermuda domicile owned by another Irish-registered company.
The amount of money Google moved through this tax structure in 2016 was 7 percent higher than a year earlier, according to documents filed by the Dutch Chamber of Commerce dated Dec. 22 and made available online Tuesday.
"We pay all taxes due and comply with the tax laws in all countries in which we operate around the world," a company spokesman said in a statement quoted by Bloomberg.
According to US financial filings, Google's 2016 global effective tax rate was 19,3%, which the company achieved in part by moving most of its international profits to Bermuda.
By applying that rate, Google would have saved $3,7 billion through the 2016 transfer.
