Posted on 11/14/2019 6:50:15 PM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
EBay Inc., the online auction company with 180 million buyers around the world, earned $34 million of profit in Florida in 2014, according to state auditors.
At Floridas official corporate income tax rate of 5.5 percent, eBay should have paid more than $1.8 million in state taxes -- enough money to hire 40 new teachers.
But records show eBay actually paid $18,810 -- not even enough to hire one.
Its not an isolated example. Auditors say Sanofi Pasteur Inc., one of the worlds largest vaccine manufacturers, earned an estimated $55 million of profits in Florida between 2008 and 2013 -- yet it didnt pay a dime in state income tax over that same period.
In recent years, Mastercard Inc. saved more than $20 million in Florida income taxes by claiming that none of its sales occur in Florida. Verizon Wireless saved more than $23 million by passing hundreds of millions of dollars of profits out of the state. And HCA Healthcare Inc. saved more than $28 million in large part by moving money through a maze of subsidiaries.
All of these moves are made possible by two things: Aggressive tax-avoidance tactics by big businesses -- and elected leaders who choose not to stop them.
The combination has left Florida with what national experts say is one of the easiest-to-avoid corporate income taxes in the nation. An estimated 99 percent of all businesses in Florida no longer pay any corporate income tax at all.
The Florida corporate income tax leaks like a sieve, said Richard Pomp, a law professor at the University of Connecticut and a leading authority on state taxes. Business has it pretty much the way they want it.
Companies that benefit under the tax structure say it is good for Florida.
(Excerpt) Read more at orlandosentinel.com ...
Get rid of capital gains.
[ Whats wrong with that ? All corporate taxes are passed on to the consumer. ]
I’ve always said that LOW Rates plus simplified code, something like only a sales tax or only a incomes tax, etc...
The little weaselly control freak Socialists can use selective enforcement of code to punish their political enemies under simpler comprehensive tax schemes.
None of these listed companies are headquartered in Florida. They pay their state income taxes in the state where they are headquartered. This is perfectly legal and the way the law is structured under the constitution. EBay for example is headquartered in California. MasterCard is headquartered in New York. The author of this article is completely ignorant of tax law and corporate structure. Hes an idiot.
” ...All corporate taxes are passed on to the consumer.”
Lower product prices
Employee pay raises
New hires
R&D for new/improved products
Reduced ROI/dividends for investors
and so on...
Bingo!
Those “obscene” corporate profits eventually get to a person, who is taxed on them. People pay taxes. Corporate taxes are passed on to the consumer.
What the left is really saying is that they want all businesses to be in the hands of the collectivity, so the state owns all the means of production. I.E. communism.
Whats wrong with that ? All corporate taxes are passed on to the consumer.
>><<
Agreed. The tax monies must come from shareholders in reduced dividends,
from employees in reduced payroll or increased prices to customers. Corporations
do not pay taxes; people do.
The issue would appear to be that 1% of companies are being treated unfairly.
Yes but the electorate has been falling for this scam since FDR and it will continue to do so.
Thats $100K in new union dues that should be headed straight to DNC coffers! How dare eBay shortchange us??? :)
The problem is that if smaller businesses are having to pay the income tax, it gives the large corporations an advantage (which is why large corporations don’t mind taxes). Bettef to have no income tax at all.
I agree.
Ping
Shush!
We don’t want the spas to know this!
spas??
SAPS!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.