(Shanghai Daily)
Updated: 2008-03-22 14:40

BEIJING -- Google Inc, owner of the world's most-used internet search site, said it paid back taxes on the income of some of its employees in China.

"After discussions with the appropriate tax authorities and clarification of the tax rules as they applied to Google China, the company paid taxes that were overdue," the California-based company said.

"Google did not evade payment."

The Shanghai Securities News yesterday reported that Lee Kai-fu, Google's president in China, paid five million yuan (US$708,600) in back taxes after an audit by Chinese tax authorities.

Google declined to comment whether Lee was among the employees that didn't pay taxes on time, Bloomberg News said.

Google hired Lee from Microsoft Corp in July 2005 to run the company's development center in Beijing, but Microsoft sued to stop Lee, saying he would be violating an agreement not to work for a competitor for a year.