The American fast food company McDonald's is once again under scrutiny by the tax authorities in France. Two years after paying a record fine to avoid criminal prosecution.
“McDonald's France confirms that the tax administration is currently carrying out a routine check. We are providing all our support in a serious and transparent manner, as we have always done in the past”indicates the group in a statement sent to AFP.
In the 2023 accounts of the French branch of the American company, it is indicated that in 2024 “an accounting audit began in April and is ongoing” and “covers the financial years ending 12/31/2021 and 12/31/2022”.
“Although the administration has not yet specified the areas of audit, the McDonald's France company has transmitted the Accounting Entries File (FEC), the transfer pricing documentation, and all accounting documents”it is specified. At the end of 2023, no provision has been made in the accounts on this subject, indicates the same document.
More than a billion paid in 2022
For McDonald's, it is a matter of avoiding at all costs experiencing the same misfortune as two years ago. In June 2022, as part of a judicial agreement of public interest (CJIP) which allows companies to escape criminal prosecution by paying a fine, McDonald's paid a fine of 508 million euros. a payment of 737 million euros to the tax authorities for tax regularization for a period from 2009 to 2020, “without acknowledgment of fault”.
As a reminder, the group's approximately 300 franchisees pay rent and a royalty to McDonald's France which, in return, pays a royalty to McDonald's Europe located in London. It is the rate of this royalty to the British entity which posed a problem during the previous tax audit, the French administration deeming it too high, which further reduced the group's profits in France and therefore its taxation.
On this subject, the group specifies that: “At the same time, in accordance with the provisions of the judicial agreement of public interest signed in 2022 with the French Ministry of Justice, we remain at the disposal of the French and British tax authorities who carry out usual technical exchanges to determine the royalty rate of brand validated by all parties concerned. »
McDonald’s “reaffirms its strong commitment to respecting the tax regulations in force, regardless of where the company is located”according to the statement sent to AFP.
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In France, the brand claims that it is “one of the largest contributors to corporate tax”with nearly 200 million euros paid by McDonald's France and its franchisees.
After contamination with Escherichia coli, the sale of hamburgers will resume in the United States
McDonald's announced this Sunday that it would soon resume the sale of its hamburgers in regions of the United States affected by Escherichia coli contamination, after tests did not reveal the presence of the bacteria.
Some 75 people fell ill after eating at one of the fast food chain's establishments. At least 22 of them were hospitalized and one died, according to data published by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
An FDA investigation revealed a possible link between E. coli and onions supplied by subcontractor Taylor Farms. The onions in question were only used to make Quarter Pounder, a hamburger called Royal Cheese in France. McDonald's then decided to suspend the marketing of this hamburger in some 900 restaurants in Colorado and 11 other American states.
“On behalf of McDonald's, I will tell you myself: we are sorry,” the president of MacDonald's in the United States, Joe Erlinger, apologized in a video.
(With AFP)
