France seeking €1.6 billion in unpaid taxes from Google

French authorities have demanded that Google pays €1.6 billion in unpaid taxes.

The figure is substantially more than the £130 million the search engine agreed to pay in back taxes to UK authorities.

However, France's AFP news agency reported that Google might be able to negotiate and may not pay the full sum.

The company's chief executive, Sundar Pichai, is visiting Paris and was due to meet the France's economy minister Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday night. It is not clear if they will discuss the tax issue.

Earlier this month, French Finance Minister Michel Sapin ruled out striking a deal with the US company.

Google would not comment on reports of the tax demand and French officials said the matter was confidential.

Europe's competition authorities have been examining whether some deals struck by big companies with national tax authorities amount to illegal state aid.

Starbucks and Fiat Chrysler were told they must pay back up to €30million in taxes after European tax breaks were ruled illegal.

But the two countries disagreed with the ruling, and Starbucks said it would appeal against the decision.

Further investigations into tax deals, including those covering Amazon and Apple, are continuing.