By The Chicago Times Business Staff
June 18, 2022
PARIS — McDonald’s has agreed to pay over $1.3 billion to the French state on Thursday to settle a tax fraud case after years of alleged tax evasion.
The tax fraud investigation was opened in 2016 after a legal complaint by union members. The French court alleged that McDonald’s France, McDonald’s System of France, MCD Luxembourg Real Estate agreed to pay a total of $1.3 billion in fines, penalties and back taxes to settle the case.
According to prosecutors, McDonald’s was accused of hiding profits made in France in lower-tax Luxembourg from 2009-2020, and then reporting artificially low profits in France.
McDonald’s Corp. released a statement saying it had already paid 2.2 billion euros in taxes over that period. The majority of the anticipated tax settlement has already been accrued for and was reflected in the company’s last quarterly earnings with the remainder being reflected in the second quarter.
The Chicago Times 