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Amazon Pulling Out of Texas Over $269 Million Tax Bill
ralphart writes with this excerpt from the Dallas Morning News:
"As a result of an ongoing tax dispute with Texas, Amazon.com has decided to take its ball and go home. The online retailer said Thursday that it would shutter its Irving distribution facility April 12 and cancel plans to hire as many as 1,000 additional workers rather than pay Texas what the state says is owed in uncollected sales tax. Texas wants $269 million from Seattle-based Amazon in past-due sales tax. It sent the bill to the company last October."
We've discussed the online retailer's tax battles with other states in the past.
The problems have absolutely nothing to do with lack of income tax in Texas. Texas is horribly mismanaged and has more than its share of corruption and theft of public funds. The governor is one of the more prominent criminals; which even includes using eminent domain to take private property to gift to his friends.
Texas is an extremely wealthy state (oil, gas, technology, manufacturing, exports/imports, transportation hub) and has had big budget problems before. They've always been addressed by simply clamping down on the extremely huge excesses which are extremely common in Texas politics. It may take a couple of years but its easily doable. Worst case, roads which were never needed will hopefully, simply not get built. Some public park facilities will be shut down. Some corporate shelters are tightened.
The day Texas requires income tax is the day Texas criminals and politicians have won, leaving the general population to simply suck it up. Most other states have income tax because they don't have the critical mass in corporate presence or the population to sustain on sales tax alone. No ifs, ands, or buts, if Texas needs income tax, the corruption is so bad, politicians literally need to be lynched in the streets.
Life isn't fair you fucking baby - deal with it. The government has no role whatsoever in trying to make it fair.