France, the Netherlands raid Netflix's 'suspected tax evasion'

French and Dutch investigators have raided Netflix's offices in Paris and Amsterdam to investigate alleged tax evasion.

Investigators specialising in financial cases searched "various locations," an investigative official told AFP, which involved allegations such as "serious tax fraud" and was part of an investigation that began in November 2022.

"The French and Dutch authorities have been working together in this case for months," the official added.

The Dutch prosecutor's office also confirmed the seizure and search, saying, "It is for France's request for legal assistance."

Last year, French outlet La Lettre reported that it had a business structure to allow French subscribers to sign up through its Netflix Dutch subsidiary by 2021, minimizing the tax burden in France.

As a result, Netflix paid less than 1 million euros (about 1.5 billion won) in taxes, even with 7 million French subscribers between 2019 and 2020, the media reported.

French authorities are investigating whether Netflix has continued to underreport earnings to pay less taxes, La Retre added.

Netflix countered that every country that operates a business is complying with tax laws when such reports emerged last year.