4 ms·

But isn't it good that companies shop around for the cheapest tax rate?

jhrmnn 5y ago
In what sense is it good that a company can make profit through a business activity in some country, but instead of paying the tax there, it pays it somewhere else?
- disposekinetics 5y ago
  It minimizes the amount of taxes paid overall, which weakens the state.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - gmadsen 5y ago
    this is a benefit only international corporations get to enjoy, which gives them an unfair advantage in the market. if your goal is to have a few conglomerates rule the world, then this is a good way to do it. Not sure how that is much different from a powerful "state" though
  - ginko 5y ago
    How is weakening the state a good thing?
    - jeofken 5y ago
      State leaders have no incentive to create value, but rather to keep power. Companies must create valuable things people want, or be out of business in a very short time.
      - ginko 5y ago
        State leaders have an incentive to get reelected. Companies are only beholden to their shareholders which represent a tiny fraction of the population.
        jlokier 5y ago
        Companies are also beholden to their customers. For all its faults, that does result in some good products.
- jeofken 5y ago
  Competition in economics is the incentive that has brought the majority of westerners from <$1/day to what we are today - with washing machines, cars, and water toilets no king could previously dream of. Companies compete for shareholders by satisfying as many customers as possible. If states can compete for the best deal for international business, companies can better serve people, and those states can house centres of international trade. It’s not just abstract talk, but incentives that drive us to live different everyday lives than people in guild-economy medieval times, or past slave economies, or how people lived in the GDR or other eastern bloc countries.
  - jhrmnn 5y ago
    > serve people You wanted to write “shareholders”, right?
    - asteroidbelt 5y ago
      It is win-win in market economy. People use Amazon not because they want to make shareholders rich, but because they prefer next day delivery to a trip to a store.
  - 3pt14159 5y ago
    The corporation that uses the roads and operates under the safety of the police and military of a country should not be paying some other country, it barely has anything to do with, a lower tax due to some accounting shenanigans.
whazor 5y ago
Now they can still shop around, but probably on all the benefits they will receive.
8note 5y ago
Good for who? The shareholders? The country that's creating the profits? The country where the company is based?

In what sense is it good that a company can make profit through a business activity in some country, but instead of paying the tax there, it pays it somewhere else?

disposekinetics 5y ago
It minimizes the amount of taxes paid overall, which weakens the state.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- gmadsen 5y ago
  this is a benefit only international corporations get to enjoy, which gives them an unfair advantage in the market. if your goal is to have a few conglomerates rule the world, then this is a good way to do it. Not sure how that is much different from a powerful "state" though
- ginko 5y ago
  How is weakening the state a good thing?
  - jeofken 5y ago
    State leaders have no incentive to create value, but rather to keep power. Companies must create valuable things people want, or be out of business in a very short time.
    - ginko 5y ago
      State leaders have an incentive to get reelected. Companies are only beholden to their shareholders which represent a tiny fraction of the population.
      - jlokier 5y ago
        Companies are also beholden to their customers. For all its faults, that does result in some good products.
jeofken 5y ago
Competition in economics is the incentive that has brought the majority of westerners from <$1/day to what we are today - with washing machines, cars, and water toilets no king could previously dream of. Companies compete for shareholders by satisfying as many customers as possible. If states can compete for the best deal for international business, companies can better serve people, and those states can house centres of international trade. It’s not just abstract talk, but incentives that drive us to live different everyday lives than people in guild-economy medieval times, or past slave economies, or how people lived in the GDR or other eastern bloc countries.
- jhrmnn 5y ago
  > serve people You wanted to write “shareholders”, right?
  - asteroidbelt 5y ago
    It is win-win in market economy. People use Amazon not because they want to make shareholders rich, but because they prefer next day delivery to a trip to a store.
- 3pt14159 5y ago
  The corporation that uses the roads and operates under the safety of the police and military of a country should not be paying some other country, it barely has anything to do with, a lower tax due to some accounting shenanigans.

whazor 5y ago

Now they can still shop around, but probably on all the benefits they will receive.

8note 5y ago

Good for who? The shareholders? The country that's creating the profits? The country where the company is based?