Indonesia’s tax agency plans to bill Alphabet Inc.’s Google unit for up to $380 million in back taxes and fines that the search giant allegedly owes from 2015.
Muhammad Haniv, head of the tax office’s special cases unit, said in an interview that a team of four tax investigators met with Google’s Indonesian unit Monday, the latest escalation in a growing dispute between government and the technology firm. He said they discussed the alleged back taxes and audit of the unit’s tax compliance records.
“If we take this case to court, Google could be fined four times the tax it owes us,” Mr. Haniv said. He added that Indonesia will also pursue taxes from as far back as 2011, when Google first established a presence in the country. “Now we are still investigating them,” he said.
Google is a very wealthy firm. It can afford to pay its fair share in taxes in all the countries where it does business — Indonesia included. The authorities there are to be commended for not letting mammoth firms like Google escape from their obligations by taking advantage of tax loopholes and other tax avoidance tricks. Time for the Monster of Mountain View to pay up!