Status: 06/16/2022 1:53 p.m
The fast-food giant McDonald’s wants to settle investigations into tax fraud in France for a large sum. The agreement with the judiciary is intended to end a year-long process.
McDonald’s pays 1.25 billion euros to the French judiciary to avoid investigations into tax fraud. The President of the Paris Court of Justice confirmed the corresponding agreement between the financial prosecutor’s office and the US fast food chain today, the prosecutor announced.
Out-of-court settlements worth billions are known primarily from the USA. In early 2016, the Public Prosecutor’s Office launched preliminary investigations into McDonald’s France after union representatives filed a lawsuit alleging organized tax fraud. According to the information at the time, it was about an annual amount of 75 million euros.
litigation is avoided
The French judiciary suspects McDonald’s of having artificially reduced its profits in France by paying royalties to its European parent company in Luxembourg. With the agreement, the US group avoids a court case. A lawyer for the restaurant chain said the payment was not an admission of guilt but was intended to avert a lengthy lawsuit with an uncertain outcome.
The McDonald’s share contained in the US leading index Dow Jones was listed pre-market in a generally weak market, however, more than one percent in the red.