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Completely disingenuous representation. ALL of EU has Value Added Taxation, that takes money from every transaction to/from corps. For instance, buying ads on G

Completely disingenuous representation. ALL of EU has Value Added Taxation, that takes money from every transaction to/from corps. For instance, buying ads on Google would automatically incur these taxes. What EU really wants is double/triple taxation where: 1. They tax your transactions as VAT 2. Income post these taxes are counted as revenues, and costs (excluding VAT) are deducted to calculate profits. 3. Profits from #2 are further subject to corp. income taxes. This article would be half genuine if they listed the VAT dollar amounts Google has raised for the EU

shaki-dora 8y ago
First of all, VAT is collected by the vendor. But the entity actually taxed is the customer. That's why VAT is an explicit line item on any bill. Second, almost all customers of Google Ads are businesses, with the resultant right get refunds for any VAT paid. Third, because of [second], most customers likely take a shortcut: if you add your VAT registration number to your account, Google does not even charge VAT.
- writepub 8y ago
  > First of all, VAT is collected by the vendor VAT is collected by the government. Just because VAT appears as a line item on a bill, doesn't mean the vendor gets to book that as revenues. > Second, almost all customers of Google Ads are businesses, with the resultant right get refunds for any VAT paid. You mean, the business itself might charge a VAT from it's customer, and deduct the VAT it pays to vendors as "cost" during taxation. There are NO REFUNDS of VAT from the government!! > if you add your VAT registration number to your account, Google does not even charge VAT. Doesn't mean the transaction has 0% VAT fee, the EU/government GETS it's VAT on valid transactions, one way or another. If you somehow avoid VAT reaching the government, you're violating the law! AND, Google is NOT the beneficiary of VAT, regulation typically requires a seller to charge VAT and pass it on to the government. Let's talk VAT numbers the EU gets from Google (as both a seller, buyer), and income taxes paid by GOOG employees before demonizing them
  - notahacker 8y ago
    VAT isn't refunded, but since Google's clients are typically directly deducting the VAT paid from their corporation tax bill and not many people buy ads for personal use, the net benefit of VAT paid on Google Ads to governments is pretty minimal. The case for income taxes paid by Google employees is better, but then most of them would also be paying high income tax if working for businesses that didn't use elaborate schemes to repatriate their profits.
    - writepub 8y ago
      Unless actual numbers are cited, discounting government's VAT income from Google's operations is not useful. We need a number to understand whether or not Google's contribution to the coffers are actually lesser than the fines it pays.
      - notahacker 8y ago
        Unless actual numbers are cited, it is not useful to credit Google with paying taxes which (i) are actually paid by Google's customers if at all and (ii) are generally directly deducted from those customers' own tax obligations and thus generally net to zero.
        writepub 8y ago
        What in my statement implies Google directly pays VAT taxes. I make it amply clear that "discounting government's VAT income from Google's operations", i.e. owing to the actual operations that result in transactions with Google, under EU law, subject to EU VAT, regardless of who pays it! On (ii), ANY and all costs incurred in operating a company, including paying VAT, can be deducted from revenues while calculating profit. That in NO WAY takes away from the actual VAT being paid to the government!!! HOW exactly does that "generally net to zero."? It certainly reduces profits, but unlike other "costs" that reduce profit calculation, VAT cannot be viewed as tax avoidance, if anything, the resultant profits post VAT are still subject to corp income tax, constituting double taxation. No CPA will advise a company to pay more VAT as a tax avoidance strategy, so I'm still trying to understand why booking VAT payments under "costs" net to 0, and for whom? The entire premise of VAT is to guarantee a certain income for the government, as a % on EVERY transaction that happens in the economy. Hence, the mere existence and operations of Google in the EU resulting in transactions, is a source of VAT income for the government. Google can always move ALL incorporation out of the EU, and buyers can make "American" transactions to an American company that completely circumvent EU VAT. By choosing to have an EU entity subject to EU VAT, Google is contributing to EU coffers. Unless there is an agenda to malign Google, ignoring government income from Google's operations seem convenient, and click-bait-ey.

shaki-dora 8y ago

First of all, VAT is collected by the vendor. But the entity actually taxed is the customer. That's why VAT is an explicit line item on any bill. Second, almost all customers of Google Ads are businesses, with the resultant right get refunds for any VAT paid. Third, because of [second], most customers likely take a shortcut: if you add your VAT registration number to your account, Google does not even charge VAT.

writepub 8y ago
> First of all, VAT is collected by the vendor VAT is collected by the government. Just because VAT appears as a line item on a bill, doesn't mean the vendor gets to book that as revenues. > Second, almost all customers of Google Ads are businesses, with the resultant right get refunds for any VAT paid. You mean, the business itself might charge a VAT from it's customer, and deduct the VAT it pays to vendors as "cost" during taxation. There are NO REFUNDS of VAT from the government!! > if you add your VAT registration number to your account, Google does not even charge VAT. Doesn't mean the transaction has 0% VAT fee, the EU/government GETS it's VAT on valid transactions, one way or another. If you somehow avoid VAT reaching the government, you're violating the law! AND, Google is NOT the beneficiary of VAT, regulation typically requires a seller to charge VAT and pass it on to the government. Let's talk VAT numbers the EU gets from Google (as both a seller, buyer), and income taxes paid by GOOG employees before demonizing them
- notahacker 8y ago
  VAT isn't refunded, but since Google's clients are typically directly deducting the VAT paid from their corporation tax bill and not many people buy ads for personal use, the net benefit of VAT paid on Google Ads to governments is pretty minimal. The case for income taxes paid by Google employees is better, but then most of them would also be paying high income tax if working for businesses that didn't use elaborate schemes to repatriate their profits.
  - writepub 8y ago
    Unless actual numbers are cited, discounting government's VAT income from Google's operations is not useful. We need a number to understand whether or not Google's contribution to the coffers are actually lesser than the fines it pays.
    - notahacker 8y ago
      Unless actual numbers are cited, it is not useful to credit Google with paying taxes which (i) are actually paid by Google's customers if at all and (ii) are generally directly deducted from those customers' own tax obligations and thus generally net to zero.
      - writepub 8y ago
        What in my statement implies Google directly pays VAT taxes. I make it amply clear that "discounting government's VAT income from Google's operations", i.e. owing to the actual operations that result in transactions with Google, under EU law, subject to EU VAT, regardless of who pays it! On (ii), ANY and all costs incurred in operating a company, including paying VAT, can be deducted from revenues while calculating profit. That in NO WAY takes away from the actual VAT being paid to the government!!! HOW exactly does that "generally net to zero."? It certainly reduces profits, but unlike other "costs" that reduce profit calculation, VAT cannot be viewed as tax avoidance, if anything, the resultant profits post VAT are still subject to corp income tax, constituting double taxation. No CPA will advise a company to pay more VAT as a tax avoidance strategy, so I'm still trying to understand why booking VAT payments under "costs" net to 0, and for whom? The entire premise of VAT is to guarantee a certain income for the government, as a % on EVERY transaction that happens in the economy. Hence, the mere existence and operations of Google in the EU resulting in transactions, is a source of VAT income for the government. Google can always move ALL incorporation out of the EU, and buyers can make "American" transactions to an American company that completely circumvent EU VAT. By choosing to have an EU entity subject to EU VAT, Google is contributing to EU coffers. Unless there is an agenda to malign Google, ignoring government income from Google's operations seem convenient, and click-bait-ey.