PARIS: The French Finance Authority pays $ 715 million (600 million) from Microsoft's local branch to count French customers in Ireland, according to the weekly L'Express newspaper.
The magazine reported that the invoices related to internet advertising and keywords for internet searches.
In spite of a significant presence in France, Microsoft paid only 32.2 million euros in corporate tax last year, according to L'Express.
The French Finance Authority refused to comment and cited its policy not to discuss the individual cases.
The US company only said that "it works in accordance with the laws of all the countries in which it operates and works in close cooperation with local tax authorities to ensure full compliance with local laws."
The 600 million euro figure is the second largest amount that France has applied for in unpaid taxes by a high-tech multinational, after $ 1.100 million recently asked Google.
This case looked like invoicing of French customers through Ireland, which means that France did not collect revenue from transactions.
However, in July, a French court decided for Google in this case considering that Google France did not have a stable presence in the country and only helped to assist the Irish unit.
The French Finance Authority appeals the decision, but the government does not rule out an agreement.
US technology giants, including Amazon, Apple and Facebook, have been criticized for their tax optimization policies, especially using low taxes in Ireland as European headquarters and routing transactions across the country.
French President Emmanuel Macron made a campaign to demand that internet businesses pay taxes in France on the company they perform in the country.
