From The Inquirer

INTERNET GIANT Google now pays more in European fines than it does in taxes, the firm’s fourth-quarter earnings have revealed.

Google owner Alphabet company reported Q4 revenues up 22 per cent to $39.28bn, while annual revenues were up 23 per cent to $136.8bn.

The company also took the time to separate out “European Commission fines” in its consolidated statements of income in the company’s accounts. These increased from $2.7bn in 2017 to $5.1bn in 2018, with a further €50m already set to be added to the bill for its first quarter and 2019 accounts, thanks to French data protection authority CNIL.

That compares to a provision for income taxes of just $4.2 billion for 2018, or 12 per cent of its pre-tax income.