Google's Use of PO Box 666 in Bermuda and Tax Practices

Based on the provided sources, Google used a post office box numbered 666 in Bermuda as part of a complex corporate structure to route billions of pounds in profits annually to the island, which has a zero per cent rate of corporation tax and is described as a tax haven. The sources detail that Google had no offices or staff in Bermuda, with the PO Box 666 being the only physical evidence of its subsidiary, Google Bermuda Unlimited [1] [4]. Google Bermuda Unlimited and Google Ireland Holdings were registered at the address of a law firm in Hamilton, near the PO Box [1] [4]. Staff at the law firm and the post office where the box was located claimed to have no knowledge of Google having an office there [1] [4].

The mechanism described in the sources is known as the "Double Irish and Dutch Sandwich" [1] [4]. This arrangement involved Google moving its headquarters for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa to Ireland to benefit from a lower tax rate [1] [4]. Profits from international operations, including those from markets like the UK where Google maintained it had no "permanent base" despite having multiple offices and staff, were routed to Dublin [1] [4]. After paying Ireland's lower corporation tax rate, these profits were then funnelled via Google Netherlands Holdings, taking advantage of Dutch tax laws, before being sent to Google's main overseas company, an Irish business domiciled in Bermuda [1] [4]. The PO Box 666 served as a conduit and registered address for this entity in the zero-tax jurisdiction of Bermuda [1] [2] [4].

The sources state that this structure allowed Google's overseas tax rate on its profits to fall significantly compared to higher rates in countries like the UK [1] [4]. While the practice was widely discussed and criticised as controversial and "immoral" by some, including MPs, the sources explicitly state that this arrangement was totally legal and not illegal [1] [4]. Google executives, such as communications chief Peter Barron, insisted that the company abided by international tax rules and that the Bermuda arrangement had no bearing on the amount of tax paid in the UK [1] [4]. They also stated that Google paid the majority of its taxes in America on its American profits [1] [4].

Therefore, based on the provided content, Google did not hide taxes at its 666 Bermuda post office box in the sense of concealing illegal activity. Instead, the PO Box was part of a legal tax avoidance strategy that routed profits through a complex international corporate structure to a zero-tax jurisdiction, thereby reducing Google's overall foreign tax liability [1] [2] [4].

More recent information in the sources indicates that Google simplified its corporate structure in line with international rules and changes to US and Irish tax laws [3]. By December 2019, Google began licensing its intellectual property from the US instead of Bermuda, and Google Ireland Holdings Unlimited Company's tax residency was moved from Bermuda to Ireland, becoming tax resident in Ireland on January 1, 2021, phasing out the "Double Irish" arrangement [3].

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