Posted on 02/27/2018 5:18:45 AM PST by E. Pluribus Unum
[FULL TITLE] Amazon Made $5.6 Billion in Profits Last Year and Reportedly Paid Zero American Dollars in Federal Taxes
Jeff Bezos is the richest person in the world, with a personal net worth of $108 billion. In 2017, Bezos’ company, the internet retail giant Amazon, reportedly took in $5.6 billion in U.S. profits.
So, how much did Amazon pay in income tax on that bounty? Hang on, we’re getting some news...what? What’s this? Amazon effectively paid zero dollars in federal income taxes in 2017? Oh.
Amazon is projecting a $789 million windfall from Republicans’ tax bill, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, which may have factored into its reason for witholding taxes this year. Bezos—like many other nominally liberal capitalists—claims to disagree with Donald Trump’s policies, while quietly lapping up the Republicans’ regressive tax breaks.
You may be asking: How is this legal? Isn’t Amazon an American company? Aren’t companies required to pay federal income tax? Hello?
Amazon’s global headquarters is not in Seattle, but in the tiny landlocked nation of Luxembourg (Amazon employs more than 40,000 people in Seattle, compared to 1,500 people in Luxembourg.). The European Union has accused Luxembourg of giving illegal tax breaks to Amazon and has ordered the country to recover $295 million in back taxes from Amazon.
(Excerpt) Read more at splinternews.com ...
Jeff Bezos: pay your taxes, you cueball lookin-ass.
It could also be a function of the way the laws are written for people to be eligible for government assistance programs. Many of these laws have been either rewritten or relaxed so as to allow more people to be eligible than were originally eligible for the assistance. From that, you get people on government assistance who may not really need that assistance, but, since they are eligible, decide to take it to make their lives more comfortable.
All the big tech companies pay little or nothing in corporate taxes - Google, Apple and others pay like 2-4% at best because they have all layered corporate structures through Delaware and overseas
The founders of this country did not tax individuals, but they did have tariffs which businesses paid. Especially targeted were foreign businesses like Amazon .
And it will never change while we have a federal government that mandates one accounting system to report financial results and a completely different accounting system to compute tax liability.
GAAP accounting to report operating results mandated by the ‘33 Act is completely different from the accounting called for in the Rube Goldberg construct known as the US Tax Code...
Governments need to figure out that things have changed. They no longer have a monopoly on “incorporation services” and taxes based on physical proximity to a business owner, and an army to harass the business.
Suppliers, customers, and partners around the world usually require incorporation services - a court to sue in if things go wrong, and a stable banking system among other things. With today’s transportation and communication systems, these services can be provided from almost anywhere. Businesses will shop around for the best incorporation service provider just like they do for internet, phone, shipping and every other major cost.
Whether it’s changing US states or changing countries, they will move if their current service provider charges too much (high taxes) or provides bad service (doesn’t protect their privacy or IP or other interests). Price fixing (e.g. global tax rates) is at best a short term solution for governments. One of the competitors will see a huge opportunity and provide better services at a better price and make a lot of revenue and create a lot of jobs.
If a government focuses on provided good services at a reasonable rate, they will create lots of jobs (and personal income tax) and collect reasonable revenue from corporations. If they focus on collecting the most revenue with the least service they will lose customers. Governments are a business now in terms of incorporation - most just haven’t realized or accepted it yet and want to keep abusing a monopoly that no longer exists.
Actually, the only just and moral way to do it would be have every adult pay the exact same amount—call it a membership fee.
May not sound fair but it would be just
If this company wasn’t so DEDICATED to the destruction of America through its support of the leftist agenda, this wouldn’t bother me a wit. I’d realize that this helps me pay less for Amazon stuff.
But in this case, this company needs to be broken up due to monopoly practices.
Part of it too could be the Cloward-Piven approach (Cloward and Piven were acolytes of Alinsky and buddies with the Clintons, Obama, and Ayers) where the goal is to overwhelm the support system by having as many people take advantage of it as possible, cause it to crash, generating a groundswell of support to enact REAL (their preferred) change.
I think everyone here agrees with that, that Bezos should pay his taxes.
What most people seem to object to on this thread (as do I) is the concept someone should have to pay a greater proportion of taxes because they are “obscenely rich”.
We don’t have an issue with calling Bezos or other people out if they don’t pay taxes they should, that is fine. We don’t have a problem with calling anyone out regardless of income level who doesn’t pay taxes. Granted they are utilizing probably legal means to avoid it and that should be changed in some way.
What we have a problem with is the Marxist angle of calling Bezos out and justifying it because he is wealthy, and we have a double problem with the advocacy of a graduated tax system, which we know to be evil.
>> Corporations—essentially—NEVER pay taxes. <<
Beat me too it!
Moreover, if Amazon is able to keep “X” amount of its revenues out of the hands of various governments and their scheming bureaucrats, more power to Amazon!
Good points, imho.
I’ve noted that I understand that.
I think you make important points. Part of the pain of the less well off is the haughty elitism of the top 0.01%
That kind of wealth is a huge trap and burden to manage before God whether they realize it, or not. They will be held very accountable.
And I don't want a penny of their wealth. Whatever God allows me to earn is my quite acceptable lot in life.
Evidently it’s useless to speak English to many on this thread. I’m talking about 0.01% or so of the country.
However, I know what poor looks like up close and personal. It does not warm the cockles of my heart to think that the degree of pain of the poor is supposed to be motivation for Christians to give in your construction on reality. I thought Holy Spirit was to motivate and lead giving.
It isn’t your envy. It is Marxist envy. You aren’t a Marxist I presume, or you wouldn’t be here, right?
I simply think you are misguided and wrong in this.
It if is a trap and a burden to manage before God as you say, it isn’t up to us to manage and limit that burden. It is between him and God, not us.
In your values and construction on reality—which you are entitled to.
Gates et al are.
However, I'm confident God will deal with them in His way and time.
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