Netflix Offices In Europe Reportedly Raided By Tax Fraud Investigators

Topline

Investigators specializing in financial crime and corruption raided the Paris office of streaming giant Netflix Tuesday morning, multiple outlets reported, as a simultaneous search took place at the company’s EMEA headquarters in Amsterdam.

Key Facts

French newspaper Marianne first reported the National Financial Prosecutor's Office in Paris and police officers of the anti-corruption office had conducted searches of Netflix in relation to a tax fraud investigation.

An unnamed French judicial source told Reuters Dutch authorities were simultaneously searching the company’s Amsterdam headquarters.

French news agency AFP, also citing an unnamed judicial source, reported Tuesday's search is related to a probe opened in November 2022 into suspicions of "covering up serious tax fraud and off-the-books work.”

The company is also under investigation in France for its 2019, 2020 and 2021 tax filings, it was reported last year, and Netflix responded with promises it complies with tax law in each of the more than 190 countries in which it operates.

Representatives for Netflix did not immediately respond to Forbes’ request for comment Tuesday.

Big Number

9.82 billion. That's how much Netflix reported in global revenue in the third quarter of 2024, up more than 15% from $8.5 billion the year prior.

Key Background

Netflix, the largest streaming service in the world with 282 million subscribers as of September, has faced a financial reckoning over the last decade as international governments push to individually tax the streamer. Switzerland voted in 2022 to introduce its own streamer tax-and-quota system; Canada passed legislation to force foreign platforms to directly subsidize local content; and in 2022 Netflix started to pay local taxes in Australia on earnings from that country's users. The company has also been the subject of tax disputes in several countries. In 2022, the company agreed to pay roughly $60 million (55.8 million euros) to settle a tax evasion investigation in Italy. The country claimed Netflix should have been paying taxes in Italy because it relied on the nation's digital infrastructure to stream content to users in the country, despite not having offices or employees based there. Netflix said it believed it had complied with Italian and international rules but agreed to pay the settlement amount and opened an office in Rome with dozens of employees. Japanese authorities in 2022 said Netflix failed to report a total of $10 million (1.2 billion yen) in income over the three years ending December 2019 (the company is believed to have since settled its tax bill with Japan).

Further Reading