Multiple offices of steaming giant Netflix have been simultaneously raided this week by authorities investigating the company over allegations of tax fraud.

French and Dutch officials have raided the company’s offices in Paris and Amsterdam this week. Teams from both countries have been investigating the company’s tax arrangements in a case that was opened in November 2022.

The Amsterdam office is of particular significance since it is the headquarters of Netflix’s operations not only in Europe, but also the Middle East and Africa.

The French investigation, carried out by the National Financial Prosecutor’s office (PNF), relates to suspicions by PNF of Netflix “covering up serious tax fraud and off-the-books work.”

The company is also being investigated for tax filings for 2019, 2020 and 2021.

 

Local media reports in France indicate that the company minimised its tax payments by declaring its turnover generated in France to the Netherlands.

Once it abandoned that practice, its annual declared turnover in France jumped from €47.1 million (A$77.59 million) in 2020 to €1.2 billion (A$1.98 billion) in 2021.

Netflix has denied wrongdoing. “We are co-operating with the authorities in France, where Netflix is a significant contributor to the local economy — and we comply with the tax laws and regulations in all the countries in which we operate,” it said in a statement.

The company finished the third quarter of this year with 282.7 million subscribers worldwide. The streaming major’s upward streak this year has continued after adding 9.33 million subscribers in the first quarter, and another 8.05 million subscribers in the second quarter.