5 ms·

Jeff Bezos will testify in front of congress that he will cease to be innovative if required to pay taxes.

by suprfsat 5y ago

Red_Leaves_Flyy 5y ago
Sounds like extortion to me.
- batch12 5y ago
  How so? Whether or not amazon innovates should have no bearing on a decision by congress to levy additional taxes against them. If amazon decides to become shittier as a result, someone else can fill that void.
- missedthecue 5y ago
  not sure which party you're talking about here
tremon 5y ago
Does this imply he sees his ability to evade taxes as his only worthwhile innovation?
- 8note 5y ago
  I think it implies that amazon can't both spend everything that would be profit on innovation while also paying the same money on taxes
sneak 5y ago
Amazon pays mountains of payroll taxes, as they are one of the largest employers in the world. The "Amazon pays no taxes" meme is a false one.
- spaceribs 5y ago
  I think the meme is "Amazon pays no federal taxes on it's profits", and that is a correct statement.
  - sneak 5y ago
    If that were the meme, I wouldn't be trying to dispel it.
  - dahfizz 5y ago
    Even that is not really true. They paid no federal income tax in 2017 and 2018, but have before and since. I'm no fan of Amazon, but you have to admit there is a pretty large distance between "Amazon pays no tax" and "Amazon pays billions in tax, but they didn't pay this one specific kind of tax a couple years ago". https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/04/amazon-had-to-pay-federal-income-taxes-for-the-first-time-since-2016.html https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/04/amazon-had-to-pay-federal-in...
    - spaceribs 5y ago
      I think income tax is the most impactful and expensive tax we have in the US, it's the one everyone thinks of when someone says "doing your taxes". The fact that Amazon just this year after not paying for 2 years had to pay a measly 1.6% in taxes does not really negate the argument. Edit: 4 years -> 2 years
      - dahfizz 5y ago
        It really feels like you're twisting reality. Amazon went 2 years without paying _income_ tax, not 4. Amazon paid $3.5 billion in taxes in 2019 (some of which was differed, but still owed). That is over 25% of their income that year. Their federal income tax rate came out to 1.6%, but its borderline lying to say "they paid a measly 1.6% in taxes". Amazon is an awful company. There is no reason to bend the truth to try and show how awful they are. Being disingenuous only makes your argument weaker.
        5y ago
- Loughla 5y ago
  Isn't it the workers who (whom? I never know) pay the payroll tax? That's their money, in exchange for their time spent on work, that's not Amazon's money. This doesn't make sense to me.
  - dahfizz 5y ago
    In the US, "payroll" taxes are split between employer and employee. The biggest items that fall into payroll are Social Security and Medicare. https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/briefing-book/what-are-major-federal-payroll-taxes-and-how-much-money-do-they-raise https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/briefing-book/what-are-major...
  - edoceo 5y ago
    in USA it works like: pay is $100. then take home is $80 because $20 is taken out for various payroll taxes. then also the company pays $20 for their portion. employees only see the -20 from them, not the +20 from Company on wage stubs. also, if the company has profits there is some tax on that (well, my little C-corp did) (numbers are made up to show process)
    - josefx 5y ago
      > also, if the company has profits there is some tax on that (well, my little C-corp did) No large US company has any profits, maybe one of their child companies in Ireland or the Caribic does. They have to beg for billions in government handouts every time they want expand their operations, that is how bad they have it financially.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]

Jeff Bezos will testify in front of congress that he will cease to be innovative if required to pay taxes.

Red_Leaves_Flyy 5y ago

Sounds like extortion to me.

batch12 5y ago
How so? Whether or not amazon innovates should have no bearing on a decision by congress to levy additional taxes against them. If amazon decides to become shittier as a result, someone else can fill that void.
missedthecue 5y ago
not sure which party you're talking about here

tremon 5y ago

Does this imply he sees his ability to evade taxes as his only worthwhile innovation?

8note 5y ago
I think it implies that amazon can't both spend everything that would be profit on innovation while also paying the same money on taxes

sneak 5y ago

Amazon pays mountains of payroll taxes, as they are one of the largest employers in the world. The "Amazon pays no taxes" meme is a false one.

spaceribs 5y ago
I think the meme is "Amazon pays no federal taxes on it's profits", and that is a correct statement.
- sneak 5y ago
  If that were the meme, I wouldn't be trying to dispel it.
- dahfizz 5y ago
  Even that is not really true. They paid no federal income tax in 2017 and 2018, but have before and since. I'm no fan of Amazon, but you have to admit there is a pretty large distance between "Amazon pays no tax" and "Amazon pays billions in tax, but they didn't pay this one specific kind of tax a couple years ago". https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/04/amazon-had-to-pay-federal-income-taxes-for-the-first-time-since-2016.html https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/04/amazon-had-to-pay-federal-in...
  - spaceribs 5y ago
    I think income tax is the most impactful and expensive tax we have in the US, it's the one everyone thinks of when someone says "doing your taxes". The fact that Amazon just this year after not paying for 2 years had to pay a measly 1.6% in taxes does not really negate the argument. Edit: 4 years -> 2 years
    - dahfizz 5y ago
      It really feels like you're twisting reality. Amazon went 2 years without paying _income_ tax, not 4. Amazon paid $3.5 billion in taxes in 2019 (some of which was differed, but still owed). That is over 25% of their income that year. Their federal income tax rate came out to 1.6%, but its borderline lying to say "they paid a measly 1.6% in taxes". Amazon is an awful company. There is no reason to bend the truth to try and show how awful they are. Being disingenuous only makes your argument weaker.
      - 5y ago
Loughla 5y ago
Isn't it the workers who (whom? I never know) pay the payroll tax? That's their money, in exchange for their time spent on work, that's not Amazon's money. This doesn't make sense to me.
- dahfizz 5y ago
  In the US, "payroll" taxes are split between employer and employee. The biggest items that fall into payroll are Social Security and Medicare. https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/briefing-book/what-are-major-federal-payroll-taxes-and-how-much-money-do-they-raise https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/briefing-book/what-are-major...
- edoceo 5y ago
  in USA it works like: pay is $100. then take home is $80 because $20 is taken out for various payroll taxes. then also the company pays $20 for their portion. employees only see the -20 from them, not the +20 from Company on wage stubs. also, if the company has profits there is some tax on that (well, my little C-corp did) (numbers are made up to show process)
  - josefx 5y ago
    > also, if the company has profits there is some tax on that (well, my little C-corp did) No large US company has any profits, maybe one of their child companies in Ireland or the Caribic does. They have to beg for billions in government handouts every time they want expand their operations, that is how bad they have it financially.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]