Facebook Ordered to Comply With U.S. Tax Probe of Irish Unit
- Judge says company must allow her to inspect documents
- Social network claimed it doesn’t have to surrender records
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Facebook Inc. must allow a U.S. judge to inspect documents it has avoided showing the Internal Revenue Service as part of an investigation into the company’s use of an Irish subsidiary for tax purposes.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler ordered Facebook on Tuesday to let her review a selection of records it has claimed are protected by attorney-client and tax-practitioner privilege. The IRS said the social network was improperly withholding the documents, “which relate to decisions made by Facebook to establish an overseas headquarters in Dublin" as part of a tax strategy, according to a memorandum filed last month.