Google moved €19.9bn through a Dutch shell company to Bermuda in 2017, as part of an arrangement to reduce its foreign tax bill, international news agency Reuters has reported.

The figures come from documents filed at the Dutch Chamber of Commerce last month. The filings show the amount channeled through Google Netherlands Holdings BV was around €4bn more than in 2016 and €5bn more than in 2015.

The Dutch shell company, which has no staff and is based in Amsterdam’s Zuidas business district, is used to shift revenue from royalties earned outside the United States to Google Ireland Holdings. This is an affiliate based in Bermuda, where companies pay no income tax.

The tax strategy, known as the ‘Double Irish, Dutch Sandwich‘ is legal but Ireland is planning to phase out the agreement in 2020.

Google told Reuters in a statement that the company pays ‘all of the taxes due and comply with the tax laws in every country we operate in around the world.’

The Netherlands does not currently tax royalties, but is planning to change this as part of a package of measures to crack down on tax evasion in 2021.

Some 10,000 shell, or letter-box, companies are based in the Netherlands and are primarily used to shift corporate earnings and obscure ownership. Google has used its Dutch affiliate to move money since 2004.