4 ms·

The abuse is both ways...see how much tax Amazon and Apple is paying. Hint: not much!

by thefounder 5y ago

CodesInChaos 5y ago
They are paying VAT (revenue tax), but avoid corporate tax (profit tax).
- Y_Y 5y ago
  At least in Spain a company will usually be able to avoid VAT on purchases they make. It is true that they charge and collect VAT on their sales to consumers. The majority off tax paid by these companies is on what they pay their employees.
  - tluyben2 5y ago
    This is very hard in reality though especially on goods from abroad; your NIE has to be on the invoice officially (which companies like BA do not do for you and I flew with them a lot for business) and while this is not strictly enforced, I got slapped many times on valid business purchases. The gestor told me to just deduct 75% of the deductible vat to not get onto the radar. Ugh.
    - Y_Y 5y ago
      This is too real. The ultimate tax is on your time, especially as a foreigner.
- thefounder 5y ago
  VAT is not the only tax to be paid in the EU. Not to mention they pay less VAT than the local businesses through various schemes(i.e registering the company that makes the sale in a country with lower VAT)
  - CodesInChaos 5y ago
    > i.e registering the company that makes the sale in a country with lower VAT Do they? The Amazon invoices I receive have German VAT.
  - petre 5y ago
    That doesn't work anymore and it only worked for small volumes, not bigger retailers. They previously needed a VAT number from the state the custumer was in, which was very cumbersome. Now they just add the destination state's VAT on the invoice and I think the VAT is settled between states.
- 988747 5y ago
  VAT is not a revenue tax. VAT is the tax paid by consumers not by the company. Company only acts as tax collector. The weird thing is this: they collect VAT on everyting they sell, but then, for everything they buy (raw materials, office supplies, etc.) they can substract amount of VAT paid for those from the amount of VAT collected. So purchases by companies are basically VAT-free. And of course some tax optimisation schemes come into play here, with some companies getting ahead on VAT (like, actually getting a VAT refund from the government, instead of paying it).

The abuse is both ways...see how much tax Amazon and Apple is paying. Hint: not much!

CodesInChaos 5y ago

They are paying VAT (revenue tax), but avoid corporate tax (profit tax).

Y_Y 5y ago
At least in Spain a company will usually be able to avoid VAT on purchases they make. It is true that they charge and collect VAT on their sales to consumers. The majority off tax paid by these companies is on what they pay their employees.
- tluyben2 5y ago
  This is very hard in reality though especially on goods from abroad; your NIE has to be on the invoice officially (which companies like BA do not do for you and I flew with them a lot for business) and while this is not strictly enforced, I got slapped many times on valid business purchases. The gestor told me to just deduct 75% of the deductible vat to not get onto the radar. Ugh.
  - Y_Y 5y ago
    This is too real. The ultimate tax is on your time, especially as a foreigner.
thefounder 5y ago
VAT is not the only tax to be paid in the EU. Not to mention they pay less VAT than the local businesses through various schemes(i.e registering the company that makes the sale in a country with lower VAT)
- CodesInChaos 5y ago
  > i.e registering the company that makes the sale in a country with lower VAT Do they? The Amazon invoices I receive have German VAT.
- petre 5y ago
  That doesn't work anymore and it only worked for small volumes, not bigger retailers. They previously needed a VAT number from the state the custumer was in, which was very cumbersome. Now they just add the destination state's VAT on the invoice and I think the VAT is settled between states.
988747 5y ago
VAT is not a revenue tax. VAT is the tax paid by consumers not by the company. Company only acts as tax collector. The weird thing is this: they collect VAT on everyting they sell, but then, for everything they buy (raw materials, office supplies, etc.) they can substract amount of VAT paid for those from the amount of VAT collected. So purchases by companies are basically VAT-free. And of course some tax optimisation schemes come into play here, with some companies getting ahead on VAT (like, actually getting a VAT refund from the government, instead of paying it).