The consulting firm McKinsey reaffirmed, on Saturday, to respect French tax rules, specifying that one of its subsidiaries had paid corporation tax for six years over the period during which the Senate accuses it of tax optimization .
“All McKinsey entities in France are subject to corporation tax. Thus, over the same period [2011-2020]its implementation subsidiary has paid corporation tax for six years”says the firm in a press release, without specifying the number of entities operating in France, nor the amount of tax paid, nor the missions of the subsidiary concerned.
The firm intends to respond to the “controversy over his tax contribution”he said, after the Senate announced on Friday that it had taken legal action for “suspicion of false testimony” by Karim Tadjeddine, head of the public sector pole, who had assured in mid-January that the firm was paying the corporation tax in France.
“However, the senators’ investigation attests that the McKinsey firm has not paid corporate tax in France for at least ten years”notes the commission of inquiry, which qualified the use by the State of consulting firms of “sprawling phenomenon” in his report.
“A caricatural example of tax optimization”
Despite a turnover of “329 million euros on the national territory” in 2020, the consulting firm would not have paid any corporate tax from 2011 to 2020, add the senators, pointing “a caricatural example of tax optimization”.
They suspect the firm’s French entities of having paid large amounts each year ” transfert price “ to their parent company, based in the United States, “which leads to a reduction in their tax result and, consequently, the amount of their taxation”.
McKinsey had already reaffirmed, last week, to respect “all applicable French tax and social rules” and have paid corporation tax “the years when the firm made a profit in France”. In his press release on Saturday, he specifies without giving further details that he has paid “422 million euros in taxes and social charges, i.e. nearly 20% of its cumulative turnover”in respect of its employees in France, amounts to be distinguished from corporation tax, which relates to profits.