Microsoft To Get $100M Annual Tax Cut and Amnesty

reifman writes "Despite a $2.8 billion deficit, Washington State's House Bill 3176 would provide Microsoft with an effective $100 million tax cut annually and possible amnesty on its $1.27 billion Nevada tax maneuverings. Under current law, all of Microsoft's worldwide licensing revenues of approximately $20.7 billion annually are taxable at .484 percent. Under the new law, only the portion of software licenses sold to Washington state customers would be taxable. Ironically, after slashing Microsoft's tax burden, HB3176 directs the Department of Revenue to crack down on 'abusive tax transactions' like those in Nevada — except for a loophole that may provide Microsoft amnesty on its twelve year practice. The bill's lead sponsor is Ross Hunter of Medina, home to Bill Gates and a number of current and former Microsoft billionaires and multi-millionaires, and other areas around Microsoft's corporate campus."

Comments

Bill's Sponsor Also Ex-Microsoft Employee

[eldavojohn]

The bill's lead sponsor is Ross Hunter of Medina ...

The article's update notes:

Update: Rep. Hunter is a former Microsoft general manager.

As does his bio:

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:
I retired from Microsoft in 2000 after 17 years of service ranging from program manager for Microsoft Access to general manager of the Microsoft Commercial Internet System.

At this point apathy consumes the rage that would normally well up inside me ... Halliburten got contract after contract with a former employee as vice president of the United States ... should this sponsorship surprise me? I guess it doesn't fall under conflict of interest though a large part of me feels it should ...

Re:Bill's Sponsor Also Ex-Microsoft Employee

[Anonymous Coward]

As a Washington state resident who also considers the amount of the state's budget deficit, I can't figure out how even a representative with MS ties could figure that this move should be viewed favorably. Let's shoot this down folks.

Re:Bill's Sponsor Also Ex-Microsoft Employee

[Alex Belits]

I don't get why people don't understand that corporations don't pay taxes. Taxes are just another expense that gets added into the final price of the product. It doesn't matter that they actually write the check, you pay Microsoft's corporate taxes every time you buy one of their products.

Product prices will be the highest the market can bear, regardless of expenses. Software already has massive profit margins, so taxes merely eat into those profits, thus depriving the company from money they can use to buy other companies, run ad campaigns, pay bribes and manipulate market in other ways.

We should eliminate them entirely. Nearly every company in the world would want to be headquartered in the US if we had no corporate taxes, imagine how many jobs that would create.

Corporate headquarters are only considered useful for locals because THEY PAY TAXES. The local employment they provide mostly consists of secretaries and janitors.

Re:Bill's Sponsor Also Ex-Microsoft Employee

[iluvcapra]

Regardless of how you may feel about taxes, it really isn't at issue. Here we have a company breaking the law, and using its influence to avoid the consequences, and to seek special treatment under the law.

Re:Bill's Sponsor Also Ex-Microsoft Employee

[iccaros]

ahhh.. no Halliburton Received No-Bid Contracts During Clinton Administration For Work In Bosnia And Kosovo. “Halliburton has also gotten some no-bid jobs in Iraq, just as it did in Bosnia and Kosovo in the 1990s, and for the same reason: Not a lot of other firms have similar expertise in supplying the U.S. military, and with a war on there’s no time to stage a lengthy bidding process.” (Max Boot, Op-Ed, “Don’t Blame Halliburton,” Los Angeles Times, 4/22/04) During Clinton Administration, Halliburton Received $2.2 Billion From US Government For Work In Kosovo. “Between 1995 and 2000, while Democrat Bill Clinton ran the country and Republican Dick Cheney ran Halliburton, there was no talk of favoritism or political ties as the Houston-based company billed the government $2.2 billion for its work in Kosovo.” (James Rosen, “Is Iraq’s Reconstruction Rigged?” The [Raleigh] News & Observer, 10/5/03) Halliburton’s Performance Praised By Former Vice President Al Gore’s “National Performance Review.” “[V]ice President Al Gore’s National Performance Review mentioned Halliburton’s performance in its Report on Reinventing the Department of Defense, issued in September 1996. In a section titled ‘Outsourcing of Logistics Allows Combat Troops to Stick to Basics,’ Gore’s reinventing-government team favorably mentioned LOGCAP, the cost-plus-award system, and Brown & Root, which the report said provided ‘basic life support services – food, water, sanitation, shelter, and laundry; and the full realm of logistics services – transportation, electrical, hazardous materials collection and disposal, fuel delivery, airfield and seaport operations, and road maintenance.’” (Byron York, “All Smoke, No Fire: The Administration’s Critics Are Wrong,” National Review, 7/14/03)

Re:Bill's Sponsor Also Ex-Microsoft Employee

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh you silly billy if high tech corporations moved to where taxes are lower Apple would be in Mississippi and Google would be in New Hampshire. Instead these companies need intellectual talent which is drawn by the availability of educational, cultural, medical, etc. infrastructure supported by high taxes. This is yet another case of the law of unexpected consequences, lower taxes saps the infrastructure which ultimately decreases the quality of the available labor pool.
In my view corporations have a duty to maximize profits for their owners but governments have a duty of build a civilization. Too often politicians forget this.

The best government

[Anonymous Coward]

Our system of government may not be the best, but it's the best that money can buy!

I don't see what the trouble is...

[calmofthestorm]

I have no objection to the government taxing my income at 0.484%

Re:I don't see what the trouble is...

[QuantumRiff]

Um, the parent was asking why its okay to tax people on gross income, but not companies? Either I should be taxed on Profit too, Or a company should be taxed on Gross income. Cause its just as easy to invent all sorts of crap to never have a profit. Go Google Hollywood accounting.

I mean with my income, I have to purchase a ton of expenses that eat at the total too. I have rent, food, medical care, etc. Just like Boeing has to pay for expenses to assemble their big shiny planes! And you can't get away with the "Well, they hire people and then they pay taxes" argument, cause I give income to the Landlord. I give income to Blue Cross, I provide income to farmers, sales clerks, hell, even the lady that cuts my hair. The economy is a network of economic networks..

but I guess its easier to insult their (the GP's) intelligence in the matter. Hooray, you took basic Economics in High School

Re:Hardly Surprising

[Phrogman]

Politicians get into power by getting corporate sponsorship, once they are there they quite naturally pay back the favour. Really, the Politicians are not much more than Corporate Representatives in Government. There is the minor formality of convincing the public to vote for the company candidate but you just throw money at that and hire good advertising companies.

The US has the best politicians the corporations can buy.

Sadly up here in Canada, its no different as far as I can see. I still believe in democracy, but I am no longer sure we still have it :(

Re:Hardly Surprising

[maxume]

Democracy is a compromise, not something that requires or benefits from belief.

"I used to believe in forcing my neighbors to do things, but then they started forcing me to do things."

Re:Makes sense.

[earlymon]

Even Mozilla dodges taxes because they are a "non profit" and get PAID millions of dollars from google as part of a business deal. But I guess if you pay a tiny percentage of that money to pay for nerds to work on open source, you're immune from criticism on Slashdot.

Right. Because the income dealings of a non-profit corporation are really just so shrouded in secrecy, loopholes and backroom deals.

In the time it took me to respond, Microsoft just wrote off more in taxes than the Mozilla Foundation is worth.

http://www.mozilla.org/foundation/documents/mf-2008-audited-financial-statement.pdf

Blow me.

Re:Hardly Surprising

[lord_rotorooter]

They should then be required to where corporate logos on their suits just like they do in NASCAR...