01-17-2013, 12:02 PM | #1 | |
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Amazon and Tax-Avoidance: Is it immoral to buy amazon?
I meant to change the title to Amazon and Tax-Avoidance: Is it Immoral? Too late now, I think.
Amazon's billion-dollar tax shield Amazon accused of using tax loophole Quote:
Last edited by Rizla; 01-17-2013 at 12:06 PM. |
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01-17-2013, 12:04 PM | #2 |
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If you don't like it, campaign for the law to be changed. You can hardly blame Amazon for employing entirely legal methods to minimise their tax bill. That's what they employ accountants for. Heck, that's what I employ an accountant for!
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01-17-2013, 12:13 PM | #3 |
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Indeed, our governments should put a stop to it. But do you think it's moral?
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01-17-2013, 12:14 PM | #4 |
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I think it's neither moral nor immoral. They are obeying the law, and that's as far as it goes. We all pay the taxes that the law requires us to; few of us would volunteer to pay more.
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01-17-2013, 12:18 PM | #5 |
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You bet Harry. As a semi-retired private citizen, I use *every* little thing I can do to reduce my tax burden. I don't consider that immoral and neither do I consider Amazon to be immoral.
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01-17-2013, 12:22 PM | #6 | |
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Quote:
IMO a large company paying a reasonable level of taxation in a democracy is a moral practice. Those taxes contribute to the general health of the democracy. Last edited by Rizla; 01-17-2013 at 12:28 PM. |
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01-17-2013, 12:25 PM | #7 |
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Presumably you saved a lot less than Amazon. In the real world that makes a difference.
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01-17-2013, 12:25 PM | #8 |
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When I drive at 30MPH in a 30MPH zone I don't consider the moral implications of doing so - I simply obey the law. When I pay the taxes that my accountant tells me I need to, and no more, I don't consider the moral implications of that - I simply obey the law. The law is the law. I'll leave the morals to the theologians.
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01-17-2013, 12:28 PM | #9 |
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01-17-2013, 12:29 PM | #10 |
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The EU VAT situation is entirely a thing of the various EU governments' own making.
They introduced a law saying the non-EU companies selling electronic goods into the EU must collect and pay VAT on the goods. But then they don't say that for inter-EU sales, companies must collect and pay VAT based on the customers' home address. This naturally leads companies to set up in the EU country with the lowest VAT rates on the electronic goods they want to sell. In the case of Amazon and ebooks, that's Luxembourg, with 3%. As for multi-national companies setting up subsidiaries in low-tax countries and using complicated licensing deals to avoid paying tax on profit in the countries in which it's earned: Any government could stop, or at least minimise this, by introducing a law that says that multinational subsidiaries must pay a minimum percentage of revenue, or the tax rate percentage on profit, whichever is higher. But it's not immoral to buy from companies that take advantage of these problems with tax law. |
01-17-2013, 12:31 PM | #11 |
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01-17-2013, 12:31 PM | #12 | |
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Quote:
Also, afaik any "scheme" that is used to lower a companies taxable income has to be declared to HMRC (I believe it's them and I'm not certain of the specifics, just remember reading about it when there was a stink about a scheme a few years back). In which case they can adjust laws if they believe a currently legal avoidance scheme should be made illegal. Laws just need to catch up to the digital way of doing things. Now if Amazon were found to be evading tax, that's a different matter. Is it really any more immoral than those of us who bought ebooks and other digital items from a country with a lower VAT rate than the UKs VAT rate to save ourselves some money? If the public or governments want to collect VAT on anything customers living in _their_ country buy, then the EU needs to change their laws accordingly (I believe something like that is in the works too). I don't think morality really comes into this discussion (unlike a discussion of say fair trade where I can see morality playing a part). Last edited by JoeD; 01-17-2013 at 12:35 PM. |
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01-17-2013, 12:33 PM | #13 |
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Tax Avoidance is not Tax Evasion.
Not everything is a moral question. |
01-17-2013, 12:34 PM | #14 | |
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Quote:
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01-17-2013, 12:38 PM | #15 |
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No, I don't. But I don't avoid more tax than the guy next to me who is also making a living. We both contribute to society. We play by the same set of rules. Amazon is not doing that. They are avoiding more tax than other comparable companies.
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