4 ms·

Tax minimization is a form of tax avoidance rather than tax evasion (Not saying it’s good, rather just that google weren’t breaking any laws).

TLightful 6y ago
"My dear wife, please believe me ... we weren't having a sexual affair, I was just getting a BJ"
- onetimemanytime 6y ago
  If you want the case that you chose to be similar to Google's tax maneuvers, that specific sexual act then would not forbidden in the contract. If what Goog is doing was forbidden, Google would be sued by DOJ in a heartbeat.
  - poiuytrewqa 6y ago
    It was doing something forbidden and they were charged for it https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/04/technology/google-italy-tax.html https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/04/technology/google-italy-t... https://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-tech-google-tax/google-to-pay-1-billion-in-france-to-settle-fiscal-fraud-probe-idUSKCN1VX1SM https://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-tech-google-tax/go...
poiuytrewqa 6y ago
There's no such a tax avoidance rule that is allowed and tax evasion is not. Also avoid and evade are similar term. Avoid > keep away from or stop oneself from doing Evade > escape or avoid (someone or something), especially by guile or trickery. This is the reason why many US tech companies got fined in Europe (Apple and Google are one of them) P.S. can someone explain why I get down votes for something factual? This forum is ridiculous at times
- davidrm 6y ago
  sole definitions of avoid and evade are completely irrelevant, "tax avoidance" and "tax evasions" are well understood syntagms, former meaning utilizing any legal means in order to reduce the amount of taxes paid. simply put, tax avoidance is good accounting. tax evasion is illegal and is an action in which you're directly breaking a law. what tech companies were doing in europe was utilizing every possible loophole in order to reduce the amount of taxes paid. of course, that angered sovereign nations which (rightly) felt cheated and they acted by applying pressures to ireland and others. some (france) even fined some of the companies, those fines were most likely in a grey area, but tech firms knew very well what they were doing, understood the motivations behind those fines and generally concluded that it's a bad idea angering a nation in whose market you're operating. realpolitik.
  - poiuytrewqa 6y ago
    I posted link below as reply to another comment. They were evading taxes and was charged in Italy and France and even on Ireland. And no, it was not technically legal because many European countries do not distinguish between avoidance and evasion. There's no such a thing and is evasion (no matter how smartly you do that). https://www.theverge.com/2019/12/31/21044662/google-end-tax-loophole-double-irish-dutch-sandwich-2020 https://www.theverge.com/2019/12/31/21044662/google-end-tax-...
- wenc 6y ago
  > Also avoid and evade are similar term. > P.S. can someone explain why I get down votes for something factual? This forum is ridiculous at times "Tax avoidance" and "tax evasion" are technical terms in accounting with very specific definitions and entailments, and the difference isn't just in the English words. Most accounting textbooks and courses cover this. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_avoidance https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_avoidance https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_evasion https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_evasion Even in Europe, this technical difference is recognized, but with one catch: the EU has enacted a counter-avoidance directive (ATAD, Jan 2019) - evasion is always illegal. This is not the case in most places around the world. Infographic: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/headlines/economy/20160530STO29669/corporate-taxation-the-fight-against-tax-avoidance https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/headlines/economy/201... Fiscal vocabulary: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/headlines/economy/20150529STO61068/tax-avoidance-vs-tax-evasion-fiscal-vocabulary-made-easy https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/headlines/economy/201... Finally, the HN guidelines provide good tips on how comment productively. (see the In Comments section) This helps us learn from each other's experiences. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

TLightful 6y ago

"My dear wife, please believe me ... we weren't having a sexual affair, I was just getting a BJ"

onetimemanytime 6y ago
If you want the case that you chose to be similar to Google's tax maneuvers, that specific sexual act then would not forbidden in the contract. If what Goog is doing was forbidden, Google would be sued by DOJ in a heartbeat.
- poiuytrewqa 6y ago
  It was doing something forbidden and they were charged for it https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/04/technology/google-italy-tax.html https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/04/technology/google-italy-t... https://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-tech-google-tax/google-to-pay-1-billion-in-france-to-settle-fiscal-fraud-probe-idUSKCN1VX1SM https://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-tech-google-tax/go...

poiuytrewqa 6y ago

There's no such a tax avoidance rule that is allowed and tax evasion is not. Also avoid and evade are similar term. Avoid > keep away from or stop oneself from doing Evade > escape or avoid (someone or something), especially by guile or trickery. This is the reason why many US tech companies got fined in Europe (Apple and Google are one of them) P.S. can someone explain why I get down votes for something factual? This forum is ridiculous at times

davidrm 6y ago
sole definitions of avoid and evade are completely irrelevant, "tax avoidance" and "tax evasions" are well understood syntagms, former meaning utilizing any legal means in order to reduce the amount of taxes paid. simply put, tax avoidance is good accounting. tax evasion is illegal and is an action in which you're directly breaking a law. what tech companies were doing in europe was utilizing every possible loophole in order to reduce the amount of taxes paid. of course, that angered sovereign nations which (rightly) felt cheated and they acted by applying pressures to ireland and others. some (france) even fined some of the companies, those fines were most likely in a grey area, but tech firms knew very well what they were doing, understood the motivations behind those fines and generally concluded that it's a bad idea angering a nation in whose market you're operating. realpolitik.
- poiuytrewqa 6y ago
  I posted link below as reply to another comment. They were evading taxes and was charged in Italy and France and even on Ireland. And no, it was not technically legal because many European countries do not distinguish between avoidance and evasion. There's no such a thing and is evasion (no matter how smartly you do that). https://www.theverge.com/2019/12/31/21044662/google-end-tax-loophole-double-irish-dutch-sandwich-2020 https://www.theverge.com/2019/12/31/21044662/google-end-tax-...
wenc 6y ago
> Also avoid and evade are similar term. > P.S. can someone explain why I get down votes for something factual? This forum is ridiculous at times "Tax avoidance" and "tax evasion" are technical terms in accounting with very specific definitions and entailments, and the difference isn't just in the English words. Most accounting textbooks and courses cover this. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_avoidance https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_avoidance https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_evasion https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_evasion Even in Europe, this technical difference is recognized, but with one catch: the EU has enacted a counter-avoidance directive (ATAD, Jan 2019) - evasion is always illegal. This is not the case in most places around the world. Infographic: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/headlines/economy/20160530STO29669/corporate-taxation-the-fight-against-tax-avoidance https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/headlines/economy/201... Fiscal vocabulary: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/headlines/economy/20150529STO61068/tax-avoidance-vs-tax-evasion-fiscal-vocabulary-made-easy https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/headlines/economy/201... Finally, the HN guidelines provide good tips on how comment productively. (see the In Comments section) This helps us learn from each other's experiences. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html