According to information published on Sunday by the Disclose investigation site, the multinational would have leaked 800 million euros in profits from its French gas turbine entity in Belfort to Switzerland and the American state of Delaware, a shortfall to earn between 150 and 300 million for the French tax authorities.

The Sud Industrie union and the Social and Economic Committee of Belfort, which came under the control of GE in 2015 with the takeover of the energy branch of Alstom by the American, also took the group to court last December, denouncing this optimization scheme.

Still according to Disclose, Bercy would have validated this tax scheme, according to a protocol of “relationship of trust” with the administration, which notably allows certain companies to have certain tax arrangements checked upstream, with the guarantee that once validated, they will not be called into question during checks.

“Bercy and the DGFiP (general directorate of public finances) have never validated this arrangement” linked to transfer prices, as part of the relationship of trust with General Electric, refutes the DGFiP, to AFP.

Hiding behind tax secrecy, it does not specify, however, which arrangements were affected by this protocol.

In addition to transfer prices, other aspects, such as the consideration of patents or innovation, can be included, at the request of companies that begin this process of exchange with the tax administration.

This procedure set up by the Ministry of Finance in 2013 with a handful of companies, then completed in 2019, does not prevent “large companies from being the subject of very specific monitoring by the tax services, in particular via the DGE (Direction of large companies of the DGFiP) and via the DVNI (Direction of national and international verifications) with regard to controls”, further insists the DGFiP.

However, it takes refuge behind “tax and professional secrecy” concerning the companies concerned and the results of the checks carried out.