8 ms·

>Who says Amazon doesn’t pay taxes? Can we do away with this now please. Amazon paying the taxes it can't avoid doesn't act as an excuse for avoiding the taxes

by slivym 8y ago

>Who says Amazon doesn’t pay taxes? Can we do away with this now please. Amazon paying the taxes it can't avoid doesn't act as an excuse for avoiding the taxes that they do avoid. In fact, excusing Amazon's tax avoidance with the income tax it's employees pay is even worse. It's still a problem. We still need to tackle it, and if this pay rise acts to dissuade people from real tax reform and real workers rights then forget the 2.4B this move is probably profitable for Amazon.

radicaldreamer 8y ago
Jeff Bezos paying sales tax on his morning coffee is enough for the people looking for an extra dopamine hit by rah rahing Amazon. $15/hour still isn’t enough to live on in many cities and large scale tax evasion by corporations is one of the single most insidious epidemics in our society today.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- pm90 8y ago
  I agree that corporations are evading taxes on a massive scale, but can we also applaud them for taking steps in the right direction when they do?
  - radicaldreamer 8y ago
    You can applaud them for what they actually do without delving into apologism (“who says Amazon doesn’t pay taxes”)
    - ericd 8y ago
      Why not specifically enumerate the taxes that Amazon is avoiding? Sales tax is the only one I'm aware of, and that seems to be dramatically lessened nowadays as they build out more warehouses for faster shipping.
- pathseeker 8y ago
  You need to look up the difference between tax evasion and tax avoidance. If Amazon was evading taxes and there was any evidence of it, they would be hit hard by the IRS.
  - krustyburger 8y ago
    I don’t say ‘evasion’. I say ‘avoision’.
pathseeker 8y ago
>Can we do away with this now please. Amazon paying the taxes it can't avoid doesn't act as an excuse for avoiding the taxes that they do avoid. Can we do away with the notion that companies shouldn't pay the amount of taxes required by the law? What should Bezos tell the accountants? Pay 15% above whatever the required amount is? 20%?
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- skellera 8y ago
  And you’re right. It’s a tax problem that needs to be solved, not a company dodging problem. Either way, a mom and pop store is not going to get anywhere near the same tax rate. Amazon is not paying their share even if they aren’t to blame.
AnthonyMouse 8y ago
> Amazon paying the taxes it can't avoid doesn't act as an excuse for avoiding the taxes that they do avoid. Blaming companies for doing something the law allows them to do is ridiculous. If you don't think they should be allowed to do that, why do you have a law that allows them to? Fix the law, e.g. by replacing corporate income tax with VAT, so they can't avoid it, and then they won't.
- tmd83 8y ago
  That's a toxic behavior not just in part of the amazon but as whole on the part of big businesses. And yes it's legal so we can't fault them except for sure collectively they lobby and influence the law making to make sure these loophole remains. A lot of the laws are bought and sold for. That's not just true for US but for most of the world I think.
  - AnthonyMouse 8y ago
    > A lot of the laws are bought and sold for. That's not just true for US but for most of the world I think. That's the point. The problem is the content of the laws. Their consequence is an inevitability that follows from their content.
ericd 8y ago
What taxes are they avoiding? Are you referring to sales tax or something else?

by slivym 8y ago

radicaldreamer 8y ago

Jeff Bezos paying sales tax on his morning coffee is enough for the people looking for an extra dopamine hit by rah rahing Amazon. $15/hour still isn’t enough to live on in many cities and large scale tax evasion by corporations is one of the single most insidious epidemics in our society today.

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
pm90 8y ago
I agree that corporations are evading taxes on a massive scale, but can we also applaud them for taking steps in the right direction when they do?
- radicaldreamer 8y ago
  You can applaud them for what they actually do without delving into apologism (“who says Amazon doesn’t pay taxes”)
  - ericd 8y ago
    Why not specifically enumerate the taxes that Amazon is avoiding? Sales tax is the only one I'm aware of, and that seems to be dramatically lessened nowadays as they build out more warehouses for faster shipping.
pathseeker 8y ago
You need to look up the difference between tax evasion and tax avoidance. If Amazon was evading taxes and there was any evidence of it, they would be hit hard by the IRS.
- krustyburger 8y ago
  I don’t say ‘evasion’. I say ‘avoision’.

pathseeker 8y ago

>Can we do away with this now please. Amazon paying the taxes it can't avoid doesn't act as an excuse for avoiding the taxes that they do avoid. Can we do away with the notion that companies shouldn't pay the amount of taxes required by the law? What should Bezos tell the accountants? Pay 15% above whatever the required amount is? 20%?

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
skellera 8y ago
And you’re right. It’s a tax problem that needs to be solved, not a company dodging problem. Either way, a mom and pop store is not going to get anywhere near the same tax rate. Amazon is not paying their share even if they aren’t to blame.

AnthonyMouse 8y ago

> Amazon paying the taxes it can't avoid doesn't act as an excuse for avoiding the taxes that they do avoid. Blaming companies for doing something the law allows them to do is ridiculous. If you don't think they should be allowed to do that, why do you have a law that allows them to? Fix the law, e.g. by replacing corporate income tax with VAT, so they can't avoid it, and then they won't.

tmd83 8y ago
That's a toxic behavior not just in part of the amazon but as whole on the part of big businesses. And yes it's legal so we can't fault them except for sure collectively they lobby and influence the law making to make sure these loophole remains. A lot of the laws are bought and sold for. That's not just true for US but for most of the world I think.
- AnthonyMouse 8y ago
  > A lot of the laws are bought and sold for. That's not just true for US but for most of the world I think. That's the point. The problem is the content of the laws. Their consequence is an inevitability that follows from their content.

ericd 8y ago

What taxes are they avoiding? Are you referring to sales tax or something else?