Google faces tax probe in Indonesia

Officials in Indonesia may stick Google with a substantial bill for back taxes, according to multiple reports.

Reuters reported that officials visited the company’s offices on Monday. Multiple reports said that Indonesian authorities believed that they could use the process to make Google pay hundreds of millions of dollars worth of back taxes and fines for 2015 alone.

{mosads}A top tax official in the country told Reuters that authorities were investigating the last five years of taxes the company allegedly should have paid.

Google manages most of its Indonesian revenue through a different subsidiary, according to reports. Google told the Journal that it believed it had paid its taxes in the country but that it was working with authorities there.

Indonesian tax officials have reportedly said that they will examine other internet firms in the future, including global social giant Facebook.

The scuffle comes not long after the European Commission said that Apple owed more than $14 billion in back taxes to Ireland. A top regulator in Europe has hinted at being interested in probing other company’s tax histories as well.

The scrutiny, at least in Europe, has led to come criticizing the continent as hostile towards American tech companies.

Google has faced its own trouble in Europe in the form of three competition probes related to some of its core offerings.