The payment includes a tax adjustment relating to Facebook’s profits between 2009 and 2018, but also a €22m penalty for the social media giant’s failure to settle sooner, according to French media reports.

In France, the financial agreement is being seen a victory for the government’s firm stance against companies such as Google, Apple, Amazon and Facebook. 

A Facebook France spokesman confirmed that the firm had handed over €106m to settle the tax claim. Capital, the French financial magazine, said that Facebook’s 2019 results showed an €88m loss for its French division after the tax settlement.

The move came after Google agreed in an out-of-court settlement last year to pay €965m to end a criminal inquiry in France into allegations of fiscal evasion. Apple agreed to pay about €500m, also last year, while Amazon handed over €200m in 2018, The Times reports. 

The financial settlements came with France threatening giant technology companies with a tax on sales, not just profits. The threat intended to catch internet groups that trade in one country but register profits in a second, often with low corporation tax rates.