McDonald's French HQ searched in tax probe: sources

PARIS (Reuters) - French investigators searched McDonald's French headquarters on May 18, targetting the U.S. fast food chain in a tax probe, sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Thursday.

One of the sources said a preliminary inquiry had been opened after former investigating magistrate and politician Eva Joly filed a lawsuit in December on the behalf of an employee committee.

"A search was indeed carried out at McDonald's headquarters in France on May 18," the other source said, confirming a report first carried by Les Echos business daily.

French business magazine L'Expansion reported last month that authorities had sent McDonald's France a 300 million euro ($336 million) bill for unpaid taxes on profits believed to have been funneled through Luxembourg and Switzerland.

McDonald's declined to comment on the search, referring back to past comments that it is proud to be one of the biggest tax payers in France.

A spokeswoman for the French budget ministry declined to comment because of the confidentiality of particular tax matters.

News of the search emerged after dozens of French police raided the Google's Paris headquarters on Tuesday as part of an tax evasion investigation.

(Reporting by Simon Carraud; Emmanuel Jarry and Myriam Rivet; writing by Leigh Thomas; Editing by Michel Rose)