French and Dutch authorities have raided Netflix offices in Paris and Amsterdam as part of an ongoing tax fraud investigation, according to French judicial sources.
The investigation, which began in November 2022, involves cooperation between officials from both countries.
While Netflix has not commented specifically on the raids, it maintains that it complies with tax regulations in all its operating regions. The Amsterdam office serves as the headquarters for Netflix’s operations across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
In France, the probe is being led by the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF), a unit dedicated to high-profile financial crimes.
The investigation into Netflix by French authorities is focused on suspicions of “covering up serious tax fraud and off-the-books work,” according to the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF). The company is being scrutinized for its tax filings for the years 2019, 2020, and 2021.
Sources in France indicated that authorities in the Netherlands were conducting simultaneous searches, with cooperation between the two countries ongoing for “many months.”
Last year, French media outlet La Lettre reported that until 2021, Netflix minimized its tax payments in France by declaring its turnover generated there to the Netherlands. After changing this arrangement, Netflix’s declared turnover in France surged from €47.1 million ($51.3 million; £39.6 million) in 2020 to €1.2 billion in 2021. Investigators are now examining whether Netflix continued to seek ways to minimize its profits after 2021.
Having entered the French market over a decade ago, Netflix opened its Paris office in 2020 and currently boasts around 10 million subscribers in the country.