PARIS: French and Dutch authorities conducted raids at Netflix offices in Paris and Amsterdam on Tuesday. The Netflix offices raided were part of a tax fraud investigation, a judicial source reported. #NetflixOfficesRaided
Specialist financial investigators searched “various locations” in France. This operation involved suspicions of “serious tax fraud and off-the-books work.” The probe into Netflix’s activities started in November 2022.
Officials also searched Netflix’s Amsterdam headquarters for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. The search was conducted by teams from both France and the Netherlands.
“French and Dutch authorities have been cooperating on this criminal case for many months,” the source said.
Dutch prosecutors confirmed that the searches were part of a French request for legal assistance. The European Union’s Criminal Justice Cooperation agency, Eurojust, stated it was “supporting the investigations,” including Tuesday’s searches.
The investigation in France is focused on Netflix’s tax filings for 2019, 2020, and 2021. Last year, Netflix claimed it complies with tax laws in every country where it operates, following media reports on the probes.
French news outlet La Lettre A reported that until 2021, Netflix’s French operation was structured through a Dutch subsidiary. This setup allegedly helped “minimise its tax bill.”
As a result, Netflix reportedly paid less than one million euros in French taxes across 2019 and 2020, despite having about seven million subscribers in France.
Authorities are investigating whether Netflix continued any illegal efforts to reduce its reported profits and tax obligations, according to La Lettre A.
The French subsidiary reportedly showed very low operating margins in 2021 and 2022 compared to Netflix’s US headquarters. #NetflixOfficesRaided
Authorities Expand Investigation Beyond Netflix Offices Raided in Paris and Amsterdam
In addition to the Paris and Amsterdam raids, authorities are closely examining Netflix’s business operations. The focus is on whether Netflix offices raided by officials followed legal procedures in their tax reporting. Transitioning from basic corporate structure to complex financial strategies, investigators are probing whether tax evasion occurred.
