Don't forget to leave a rating: Amazon chairman meeting with UK prime minister to talk taxes
- Reference: 1632145566
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2021/09/20/amazon_chairman_meeting_with_uk/
- Source link:
BoJo - whose full name is Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson - is flying to Washington DC this week to meet US President Joe Biden, with a stop also scheduled at the United Nations to talk climate change.
As part of that tour he will also meet Bezos, who [1]stepped down from his chairman role at Amazon in July, handing control of the business to AWS CEO Andy Jassy. Bezos remains as chairman.
[2]
“You can expect the PM to raise this important issue as you know we have been an advocate for an international solution to there tax challenges posted by the digitalisation of the economy,” a spokesperson for Johnson [3]told the FT of the pending meeting with Amazon’s founder.
[4]
[5]
Just last week, The Reg revealed that Amazon’s [6]latest profit and loss filings for calendar 2020 were as transparent as we’ve come to expect from the notoriously tax-efficient corporation.
[7]Amazon UK business swelled by 50%+ in 2020, and taxes soared. Lol, no, it means those paid by its staff
[8]Amazon abuses dominance to keep wholesaler prices high, says DC AG in updated antitrust complaint
[9]Amazon to cover 100%* of college* tuition* for hourly employees* in the US
[10]AWS EKS Anywhere (as long as it's VMware) hits full release
Labour MP Dame Margaret Hodge told us last week that Amazon was “at the apex of Big Tech tax avoiders.”
She said today of Johnson’s trip stateside and meeting with Bezos, “It’s about time the PM called him out,” adding, “but real change will only be achieved by robust new rules on global corporate tax and increased transparency. Warm words are not enough.”
The G7 group of nations suggested a [11]15 per cent tax rate for multi-nationals and binning the digital services taxes when they met in June. It proposed taking taxes from organisations in each of the country where revenue is turned over.
[12]
This was given a stamp of approval by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, which described it as a landmark step toward global consensus necessary to reform the international tax systems.”
Now there's just the rest of the world to convince.
Amazon isn't alone is trying to legally minimise its local tax liabilities, and in addition to other tech giants doing similar things, there have been numerous Brit politicians called out for using offshore tax havens. Perhaps De Pfeffel should have started those tax discussions before he got on the plane. ®
[13]
* With apologies to [14]Randall Munroe
Get our [15]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2021/02/02/bezos_ceo_amazon/
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YUiwOSif0M1EfcA5lj7iHAAAAY0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://www.ft.com/content/7beeb33b-1068-4d51-af2f-8b152403c5f5
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YUiwOSif0M1EfcA5lj7iHAAAAY0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YUiwOSif0M1EfcA5lj7iHAAAAY0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2021/09/17/amazon_results/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2021/09/17/amazon_results/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2021/09/13/amazon_antitrust_lawsuit_widened/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2021/09/09/amazon_ups_worker_benefit_ante/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2021/09/09/aws_eks_anywhere_as_long/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2021/06/06/g7_15_percent_tax_on_big_tech_companies/
[12] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YUiwOSif0M1EfcA5lj7iHAAAAY0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[13] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YUiwOSif0M1EfcA5lj7iHAAAAY0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[14] https://xkcd.com/937/
[15] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Philosophy of taxation
The philosophy of taxation has been argued over for, literally, millennia. Julius Caesar was assassinated in part because he wanted to tax the rich landowners more. More recently rich people who own companies have claimed they shouldn't have to pay tax on their personal income as they 'provide jobs' for lots of people who do pay taxes (and, in the UK, National Insurance). Then, of course there is the 'only the little people pay taxes' attitude of some rich folk.
I don't doubt that Mr Bezos is just as keen to avoid (rather than evade) as much tax as possible, so he can play with his rockets. And I don't doubt that Boris will be as unsuccessful at getting the rich multinational corporations to pay taxes in the countries where they do business as other politicians have been.
Now I must look into how much I can put into my ISA this year...
Re: Philosophy of taxation
as they 'provide jobs' for lots of people who do pay taxes
This position is frankly outrageous. It's a tax on my own work, and merely a facilitation of the job, doesn't give a right to claim any worker's money. I think that would even be illegal.
Debatable
Amazon isn't alone is trying to legally minimise its local tax liabilities
I am not sure if transactions that are designed to avoid tax are still legal, certainly HMRC can tax them, there is just no will to do so - especially when you have a Chancellor with quite a few glaring conflict of interests, but that's just my opinion.
Yeah, that's how it works.
The tax man comes round, you have a nice chat, decide a figure that you're both happy with, bish bash bosh, job's a goodun.
Isn't that how everyone does their taxes?
The problem of taxing companies will always exist as long as they are taxed on profit not revenue... and yet taxing on revenue makes little sense either as it would be highly unfair on low-margin companies. The 'minimum 15%' tax is, I think, a good way forward, since most countries' headline rates are higher than that but in practice large international companies use various loopholes to get lower rates. Besides big OECD countries banding together to impose the minimum 15%, include provisions that disallow any expense deductions paid to any country that does NOT impose a 15% minimum. So Megacorp declares 1bn income and 999mln expenses, if say 99 mln expenses are paid to suppliers (usually sister or parent companies) based in the caribbean that don't have 15% minimum tax, then they are taxed min 15% on 100mln profits. That both discourages transfer pricing shenanigans from megacorps and reduces income flows to tax havens unless they up their rates. Of course the 15% has to be a real 15% with no special rebates and no deductions beyond what is a normal business expense.
Step two, instead of taxing salaried employees at 40+%* on top of NI, and rent-gatherers 10-20% on dividends and capital gains income, make all income the same and tax it at the same rate.
*varies by country but most of western Europe has brackets in that area.
he will discuss the “challenges” of taxing giant tech corporations in a digital economy
The challenge is simply to grow a backbone and start making them fucking pay. You don't go and discuss it with the guy who doesn't want to pay, and beg him to pretty please pay a bit more so it looks like you've scored some sort of victory and in return you'll ease off the other stuff about regulation and worker's rights.... unless of course you're a cynical, useless prat who doesn't really think the rich should pay for anything, as you intend to very much be one of them once you're bored with playing at being prime minister.
pointless exercise
With Big Bez have stepped down,
Big Bez will simply agree with de Pfeffel,
however, as the parcel river is being run by a new CEO,
the word of Big Bez counts nothing