Media sources including Reuters and AFP are reporting that French authorities are preparing to slap Google with an enormous $1.3 billion tax bill.

Given France’s poor relations with Google of late, one would be forgiven for thinking that this is no laughing matter , or at least, not until you consider just who the source of this information is – none other than Le Canard Enchaîné, France’s most infamous satirical newspaper.

According to various news outlets, which for some reason have took Le Canard Enchaîné’s word as gospel, French tax authorities are said to be furious with Google,  claiming that the website is avoiding paying taxes by charging advertisers in the country through a subsidiary based in Ireland. This practice, which is legal according to EU rules, allows Google to reduce the amount of tax it pays, but nevertheless the French tax man isn’t happy, and has apparently launched an investigation into the matter.

Several French media sources, including Le Monde, also appear to be taking the report seriously, even though Le Canard Enchaîné doesn’t cite any sources for its revelations.

For its part, Google immediately denied the allegations, and insists that it hasn’t received any bill:

“We continue to cooperate with the French authorities as we have done till now,” a spokesman for Google France said, stressing that “Google conforms with the fiscal laws of all the countries in which we operate, and with European rules.”

One has to wonder at the stupidity of some of these journalists. While Le Canard Enchaîné does occasionally come up with the odd scoop now and again, it most certainly does not have “an excellent track record of investigative journalism”, as the website TechCrunch naively claims in its own report.  The ‘newspaper’ doesn’t even have an online version, other than a single splash page urging people to buy its rag.

To be honest, taking Le Canard Enchaîné’s word for it, without any independent source to corroborate its story, is no different to taking a headline from the Onion literally – downright idiotic, in other words.

If France’s tax man really does have an issue with Google, I think I’ll wait until someone a little more reliable corroborates the story before I go jumping all over it.