Amazon closing AmazonSmile

[Kindleing]

Originally Posted by DuckieTigger

Since they are collecting sales tax when needed, Amazon is, in fact, paying a lot of taxes. They still make a lot of profit, and I am sure they use every trick to avoid taxes on that. But then, the only way to avoid taxes on profit is to reinvest the money which creates a tax payment elsewhere.

It's also worth remembering that tax laws are written and enacted by politicians, not corporations. Companies who don't comply with tax laws, and are caught, suffer consequences.

All businesses pass taxes on to the consumer. When their taxes go up consumer prices go up.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Kindleing

All businesses pass taxes on to the consumer. When their taxes go up consumer prices go up.

And as most Canadians can testify, the PST/GST/HST/FST implementation in the early 1990's showed that when the hidden from the consumer FST was removed, very few corporations managed to pass that savings on to the consumer and instead considered it a nice 5% boost to their bottom line.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Kindleing

It's also worth remembering that tax laws are written and enacted by politicians, not corporations.

Well, they are enacted by politicians. But increasingly they are written by lobbyists.

[DuckieTigger]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Well, they are enacted by politicians. But increasingly they are written by lobbyists.

Increasingly?

When haven't they.

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by Kindleing

It's also worth remembering that tax laws are written and enacted by politicians, not corporations. Companies who don't comply with tax laws, and are caught, suffer consequences.

All businesses pass taxes on to the consumer. When their taxes go up consumer prices go up.

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Well, they are enacted by politicians. But increasingly they are written by lobbyists.

The IRS Decided to Get Tough Against Microsoft. Microsoft Got Tougher. Note that ProPublica leans to the left in their reporting.

tl;dr, perhaps a bit over-simplified: the IRS audited Microsoft. Microsoft (rather, the lobbyists for Microsoft) got the law changed regarding audiitng.

[John F]

Originally Posted by DuckieTigger

Since they are collecting sales tax when needed, Amazon is, in fact, paying a lot of taxes.

...

Just to be clear, Amazon is collecting the sales taxes and (hopefully) passing them along to the correct entities. It is Amazon's customers that are paying the taxes.

[DuckieTigger]

Originally Posted by John F

Just to be clear, Amazon is collecting the sales taxes and (hopefully) passing them along to the correct entities. It is Amazon's customers that are paying the taxes.

In the same sense income tax is paid for by the employer and not the employee, because the employer gives the money to the employee.

[John F]

Originally Posted by DuckieTigger

In the same sense income tax is paid for by the employer and not the employee, because the employer gives the money to the employee.

That is an interesting way to look at it.

I don't recall employers saying they pay the income tax (here in the U.S.). They withold it from ones paycheck. None of my employers has ever given me money to pay my income tax. The next time when I do my taxes, and I end up owing more then was witheld, I'll be sure to make sure my employer gives me the money.

[DuckieTigger]

Originally Posted by John F

That is an interesting way to look at it.

I don't recall employers saying they pay the income tax (here in the U.S.). They withold it from ones paycheck. None of my employers has ever given me money to pay my income tax. The next time when I do my taxes, and I end up owing more then was witheld, I'll be sure to make sure my employer gives me the money.

It is splitting hairs, really. What really generates wealth out of thin air is the labor of the laborers, both physical and mentally. Those that create the wealth, for others, are also the ones being allowed the burden to pay the price, in taxes. If it is a company, income tax only applies to the profit portion, when it comes to individuals, the whole revenue spent, and unspent, gets taxed twice, once when earning, another time when spending. Grossly unfair.

ETA: You are paying the owed taxes from the money the employer gave you, just directly out of the pot they didn't withheld at payroll, the part they gave you to hang yourself by going into bad debt if living paycheck to paycheck, or worse. A much too common thing in the US, other countries probably just as well, maybe not as bad.

[Quoth]

Amazon is paying less tax on profit than any local business. That's one issue.
Another is that they pay their warehouse staff badly.
They also use their size to get special deals with postal & shipping companies.
They impose rules to build monopolies.

They are not a regular kind of business: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...ions_by_Amazon

So it's not splitting hairs. They use their size & power to pay less tax than other business and have unfair trading advantages.

[John F]

Originally Posted by DuckieTigger

It is splitting hairs, really. What really generates wealth ...

Now that is what I call a pivot.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by Quoth

Another is that they pay their warehouse staff badly..

I hear this mentioned quite a bit, but then I see hourly rates that make me jealous. I've worked bad warehouse gigs for bad pay. The numbers I'm seeing don't jive with being paid "badly" by current trends.

[Apache]

In the US the companies withhold Federal Income Tax, Social Security and Medicare. The Employer also matches the Social Security and Medicare that is withheld from each employee. The employer also pays 100% of unemployment taxes.
Apache

[Paperbackstash]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I hear this mentioned quite a bit, but then I see hourly rates that make me jealous. I've worked bad warehouse gigs for bad pay. The numbers I'm seeing don't jive with being paid "badly" by current trends.

Here too. Florida isn't generally a higher paying state, especially in this county, but Amazon warehouse starting pay beats most other jobs in this area, including some careers that need higher degrees. Unpleasant working conditions in comparison likely, but I can't complain about the salary numbers.

[ownedbycats]

to be fair, most of the complaints I've heard are on working conditions. Getting UTIs because they're pushed so fast they can't go take a bathroom break, for instance.