So apparently the income taxes they would have collected from the newly employed people wasn’t enough for them (as opposed to having to pay them unemployment). Nope: MORE MORE MORE!
They closed a distribution center in my town when Texas did something similar. I think Texas was trying to collect taxes on items shipped to other states from it too.
Greedy government thieves thwarted again. Sweet.
They are blaming the Tea Party both in the article and in comments below. It doesn’t sound right, why would the TEA party (Taxed enough already) be in favor of increased taxes?
Amazon shrugged.
I don’t know who did what, as I’ve not followed this case.
But ALL financial incentives to companies are based on the theory that government can “steal” jobs away from other locations by making a deal with the company that in essence is a negotiated lower tax than is paid by other companies in the state. Think about the fairness of that for a minute.
Then realize that statistics prove most of these deals never pan out anyway. The state agrees to a reduced tax level but how important is that in the overall scheme of things that determine the viability of a business? How many of us would relocate JUST for a lower tax rate?
There are plenty of examples - such as K-Mart that negotiated a big tax incentive from the state of Michigan - only to file bankruptcy, be acquired by Sears and moved out of the state only 2 years later.
I applaud South Carolina for calling BS on this shell game. Offer conditions that make your state friendly to business and keep government out of the way, and you’ll get all the jobs you would any other way.
Amazon wanted a tax break and the SC House told them to pound sand. This is why the local Tea Party opposed this, because it's crony capitalism on the state level.
Amazon has something the state doesn’t.
Jobs.
They can find states willing to stand up to Walmart and welcome the jobs.
*facepalm*
It appears the commie ‘RATS like Barry Soetoro are going to have to find someone else to subsidize their communist agenda. American capitalists just don’t seem to be ready to “volunteer” for the job. I don’t blame them. Communism really sucks!
Amazon shrugged.
Way to go, South Carolina. More money for scumbag politicians to buy votes with is more important than 1,200+ jobs for state citizens.
Pure government greed.
Oregon, which has no sales tax, would be pleased to have the distribution center.
But after looking at the outrageous income tax, sales tax, and property tax (all types of property) ... yikes!!!
I thought SC was a conservative state? SC taxes make taxes Massachusetts look tame by comparison!
There is one of two issues here- that SC wanted to tax everything going out of the distribution center as if it was all sold to locals, or that Amazon wanted nothing going out to be taxed, even if sold to locals. There is a huge difference. Secondly, it is my understanding that you normally would pay a sales tax on anything coming out of your state regardless of whether it was a distribution center or a headquarters. If a company has a presence in your state, you pay sales tax. If Amazon is (because of its size) able to get states to waive that state sales tax collection requirement, then they are indeed getting an “unfair” tax (and therefore price) advantage over other online retailers. I can also tell you from a vendor standpoint that Amazon is a PITA and doesn’t like to pay their bills on time. I don’t have the time right now, but I will read up to see exactly what concessions Amazon wanted in exchange for putting the distribution center here.
I would like to point out that SC is generally very business friendly, both regards labor costs (right-to-work) and in localities giving property tax and other big breaks to companies wanting to locate here. Just ask Boeing, Michelin, BMW, Honeywell, etc, etc.
Congratulations to Wal-Mart for using the power of the state to shut down a competitor.
The fascists at ChiComm-Mart will throw thousands of affiliate marketers out of business and destroy another 1,249 jobs at the Amazon distribution center. Affiliate marketers = small businesses.
The state was bombarded by propaganda from Wal-Mart through its lying front group, South Carolina Alliance for Main Street Fairness. Meanwhile, Commi-Mart will be getting billions in tax breaks and subsidies as it opens more Wal-Marts across the country, including South Carolina.
Wal-Mart is cronyism in action. South Carolinians need to throw these fascist bums out of the state legislature. Congratulations, morons. And it’s now been confirmed that our new governor is too stupid to realize the ramifications of this action.
BTW, I saw no evidence that any Tea Party was involved in this fiasco. Probably The State liberal rag is trying to stir up trouble.