Jeff Bezos supports US tax rise after not paying it for two years – and paying tiny amount in 2019
- Reference: 1617783136
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2021/04/07/bezos_amazon_backs_us_tax_increases/
- Source link:
Bezos' stance was revealed in an [1]announcement and a Tweet.
[2]
A message from Jeff Bezos. [3]https://t.co/ZAcpnaRu6z [4]pic.twitter.com/81AkgVyQke — Amazon News (@amazonnews) [5]April 6, 2021
The reference to the Biden administration's infrastructure plans doesn't mention that the President plans to find some of his planned US$2tr by increasing corporate tax rates from 21 to 28 per cent.
[6]
A rate of 28 per cent would place US corporate tax halfway between current rates and the pre-2017 rate of 35 percent. To prevent multinationals from simply fleeing to tax havens, Biden’s also advocated increasing the global minimum tax to 21 percent.
Think tank report names and shames 'stakeholder capitalist' Salesforce for paying no corporate income tax in the US [7]READ MORE
The infrastructure plan allocates US$621bn into transportation like bridges, roads, airports and ports, plus billions to improve broadband. Amazon Amazon stands to benefit considerably from such measures.
Biden has long been critical of Amazon on matters such as [8]unions , which [9]Amazon vehemently opposes , and taxes, which Amazon seemingly now accepts must rise.
Let me be clear: Hardworking Americans should not be paying more in federal income taxes than Amazon or Netflix.
It’s time for big corporations to finally pay their fair share. — Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) [10]October 30, 2020
Biden's criticisms continued into 2021. In [11]remarks delivered on March 31, Biden said an independent analysis found 91 of Fortune 500 companies used various loopholes to avoid paying any federal income tax. The speech included the following line:
I don’t want to punish them, but that’s just wrong
A day after that speech, Amazon spokesperson Jay Carney tweeted the following:
If the R&D Tax Credit is a “loophole," it's certainly one Congress strongly intended. The R&D Tax credit has existed since 1981, was extended 15 times with bi-partisan support and was made permanent in 2015 in a law signed by President Obama. — Jay Carney (@JayCarney) [12]March 31, 2021
[13]
Amazon paid exactly zero dollars in federal taxes in 2017 and 2018, thanks to use of legitimate deductions that allowed it to reduce its liabilities. Changing the rate of company tax would therefore not necessarily mean Amazon pays more, although in 2019 the company [14]paid $162m of federal income taxes on US$13.9bn pre-tax income revenue, deferring US$914m. The paid tax accounts for 1.2 per cent of 2019 pre-tax income, a far lower rate than most workers or corporations ever pay. ®
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[1] https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/policy-news-views/a-message-from-jeff-bezos
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YG2Cx3ym90TwOagufHXgXQAAAM0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://t.co/ZAcpnaRu6z
[4] https://t.co/81AkgVyQke
[5] https://twitter.com/amazonnews/status/1379525549559853062?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YG2Cx3ym90TwOagufHXgXQAAAM0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2021/04/06/salesforce_us_corporation_tax/
[8] https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/1366191901196644354
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2021/03/30/amazons_alabama_union/
[10] https://twitter.com/JoeBiden/status/1322270801370902528?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[11] https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2021/03/31/remarks-by-president-biden-on-the-american-jobs-plan/
[12] https://twitter.com/JayCarney/status/1377383927216750595?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[13] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YG2Cx3ym90TwOagufHXgXQAAAM0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[14] https://d18rn0p25nwr6d.cloudfront.net/CIK-0001018724/aa51b777-d45b-4f52-8573-737c255372ab.html#
[15] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Same with those who invest money into loss makers to use that as an excuse to not pay taxes. Tax rules are way too complicated, too many ifs and buts and whens, and thus too many loopholes. Sure, there were good (well... in many cases) reasons for saying such-and-such should reduce your taxable income, but overall I guess most of us would appreciate if waaay fewer of these rules existed and the overall tax rate would be lowered. In the end we'd end up paying a similar amount, but those who play the tax-evasion-game would actually have to pay their fair share.
I like it how in Norway tax evasion seems less of a public sport than elsewhere, with skatteetaten (the tax office) acutally urging you to check your tax assessment so that you do not overpay (publicly, on posters in official buildings, for example). I also found the Norwegian income tax system simpler to grasp than in other countries (not that I did not have to fight my way through some iterations of filing appeals, because of those deductions, which I did appreciate, but are now being phased out - which does make some sense[*])
[*] well, those were exemptions for foreign nationals moving to Norway or having family abroad. They now hire "Norwegian first" in many places, and the once welcoming culture is becoming more nationalistic, though way less than in other countries, also look at election outcomes. They are following the international trend, sadly.
Of course Bezos supports an increase in corporate tax, if your in house accountancy team can use loopholes to make your tax liability almost a zero amount on the books then an increase of a few percent in corporate tax won't make any difference to Amazon.
It about time that these big billion dollar corporations were treated to different tax rules than SME so they can't use loopholes such as incorporating in tax heaven and charging themselves licensing fees for using logos etc.