13 ms·

Take a moment to comprehend those numbers: FY18/19 - under $10bn profit FY19/20 - $314.7bn profit (3/4 of Ireland's GDP) and paid no tax on it. > The subsidi

Take a moment to comprehend those numbers: FY18/19 - under $10bn profit FY19/20 - $314.7bn profit (3/4 of Ireland's GDP) and paid no tax on it. > The subsidiary, which collects licence fees for use of copyrighted Microsoft software around the world, recorded an annual profit of $314.7bn in the year to the end of June 2020, according to accounts filed at the Irish Companies Registration Office. Its profits jumped from just under $10bn the previous year and compare with Ireland’s 2020 GDP of €357bn ($437bn). > Tax transparency campaigners described the “tax aggression displayed by Microsoft, and facilitated by Ireland” as “beyond belief”.

akudha 5y ago
One company’s single year profit is three quarters of GDP of a nation of 5 million people!!! With that much economic power, it is no wonder these multinationals write the rules as they please
- thatguy0900 5y ago
  Makes you wonder when we'll get back to the point they have their own militaries
  - piva00 5y ago
    I have a feeling that's something Elon Musk might have considered more than once in his own head...
ornornor 5y ago
And seen in another thread: Microsoft is lobbying the US govt to spend 250 million to make more software engineers by introducing computer courses in schools so that there are more SE on the market in the future so that they can hire for cheaper. Meanwhile, individuals are paying 20–50% income tax. What a wonderful world.
- echopom 5y ago
  > is lobbying the US govt to spend 250 million to make more software engineers It cost money to "train" engineers , better use taxpayer money to train those damn "human ressource" rather than those 300Billions of Profit.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
- pc86 5y ago
  This argument comes up a lot but nobody is paying 50% income tax in the US. Even if you make a million dollars a year in W2 income, in California, which has the highest marginal tax rate, you'll pay roughly 40% effective, almost entirely to the federal government. Realistically you're going to make a lot less than that W2, which drives the effective rate down considerably, and as remote work becomes more of an expectation, living in a state with high income taxes will become more and more of a choice. Plenty of states have bustling urban centers and low single digit income taxes. Also I think it's pretty disingenuous to assume that MS wants to see computer courses taught in school to drive down the cost of labor.
  - atatatat 5y ago
    > This argument comes up a lot but nobody is paying 50% income tax in the US. Call it what you will, add up the local taxes and registration fees and and and people may as well be in Europe instead of the States...
  - aceon48 5y ago
    BS... you're excluding Property Tax, Sales Tax, etc
    - pc86 5y ago
      Which are not income taxes.
  - msiyer 5y ago
refurb 5y ago
Something doesn’t make sense. If it’s $437B in profit, then revenue must be higher? And what this is saying is that Ireland’s GDP will double in 2020?
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- G3rn0ti 5y ago
  Yeah, it’s an artificial number. It does not reflect the true profitability of MS. As another commenter explained (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27380998 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27380998) the figure contains money from selling two subsidiaries. That would also explain the steep rise of the profit.
disgruntledphd2 5y ago
TBH, it looks like this was just money moved around from other low/no-tax subsidiaries. Profit after tax increased ... due to the liquidation of two subsidiaries. Like, it's still bad, but this money presumably represents many years of accumulated profits, as otherwise the number makes no sense (MS made a profit of $14bn in 2020). See: https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/20794038-microsoft-round-island-one-end-june-2020 https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/20794038-microsoft-r... for the actual directors report.
msiyer 5y ago
It will trickle down one day. You just have to wait for it.
- falcolas 5y ago
  Warning, the trickle may smell like urine. Don’t look up.

akudha 5y ago

One company’s single year profit is three quarters of GDP of a nation of 5 million people!!! With that much economic power, it is no wonder these multinationals write the rules as they please

thatguy0900 5y ago
Makes you wonder when we'll get back to the point they have their own militaries
- piva00 5y ago
  I have a feeling that's something Elon Musk might have considered more than once in his own head...

ornornor 5y ago

And seen in another thread: Microsoft is lobbying the US govt to spend 250 million to make more software engineers by introducing computer courses in schools so that there are more SE on the market in the future so that they can hire for cheaper. Meanwhile, individuals are paying 20–50% income tax. What a wonderful world.

echopom 5y ago
> is lobbying the US govt to spend 250 million to make more software engineers It cost money to "train" engineers , better use taxpayer money to train those damn "human ressource" rather than those 300Billions of Profit.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
pc86 5y ago
This argument comes up a lot but nobody is paying 50% income tax in the US. Even if you make a million dollars a year in W2 income, in California, which has the highest marginal tax rate, you'll pay roughly 40% effective, almost entirely to the federal government. Realistically you're going to make a lot less than that W2, which drives the effective rate down considerably, and as remote work becomes more of an expectation, living in a state with high income taxes will become more and more of a choice. Plenty of states have bustling urban centers and low single digit income taxes. Also I think it's pretty disingenuous to assume that MS wants to see computer courses taught in school to drive down the cost of labor.
- atatatat 5y ago
  > This argument comes up a lot but nobody is paying 50% income tax in the US. Call it what you will, add up the local taxes and registration fees and and and people may as well be in Europe instead of the States...
- aceon48 5y ago
  BS... you're excluding Property Tax, Sales Tax, etc
  - pc86 5y ago
    Which are not income taxes.
- msiyer 5y ago

refurb 5y ago

Something doesn’t make sense. If it’s $437B in profit, then revenue must be higher? And what this is saying is that Ireland’s GDP will double in 2020?

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
G3rn0ti 5y ago
Yeah, it’s an artificial number. It does not reflect the true profitability of MS. As another commenter explained (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27380998 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27380998) the figure contains money from selling two subsidiaries. That would also explain the steep rise of the profit.

disgruntledphd2 5y ago

TBH, it looks like this was just money moved around from other low/no-tax subsidiaries. Profit after tax increased ... due to the liquidation of two subsidiaries. Like, it's still bad, but this money presumably represents many years of accumulated profits, as otherwise the number makes no sense (MS made a profit of $14bn in 2020). See: https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/20794038-microsoft-round-island-one-end-june-2020 https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/20794038-microsoft-r... for the actual directors report.

msiyer 5y ago

It will trickle down one day. You just have to wait for it.

falcolas 5y ago
Warning, the trickle may smell like urine. Don’t look up.