China accuses Google and its affiliates of tax fraud

American search engine Google, which recently accused the Chinese government of blocking its services, has been charged with tax evasion along with three of its affiliate companies. Three Google-affiliated companies have been found using fake invoices and accounting and business tax irregularities were also discovered that involved more than 40 million yuan (USD 6.06 million), the state-run Economic Daily reported today, citing sources in China’s tax authority.
Google itself is under investigation for tax evasion, it said. The authority has asked the companies to correct their wrong-doing and has retrieved the money, the daily’s report being circulated by the official Xinhua news agency said. In October, 2007, two Google-affiliated companies registered in Beijing were investigated for tax evasion involving more than 20 million yuan.