Slashdot Mirror
Twitter Tax Controversy Explained In Cartoon Form
theodp writes "If you prefer to digest your news in a cartoon format, you'll be happy to know that the Twitter tax controversy has gotten the Next Media Animation TV treatment. In the NMAtv clip, Twitter co-founder Biz Stone cuts a tax break with San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee and ascends a ladder to 'Tax-Free Haven' where he's high-fived by execs from GE and Google. If you insist on reading the news, IBD has an account of the payroll tax break, which critics are calling corporate welfare."
A hilarious, but true, story. Please remember, when you see 'haven' instead of 'heaven,' that English isn't everyone's first language.
admittedly it's a bad pun, but would it really be surprising that the taiwanese media have a better grasp of english than slashdot editors?
"They were pure niggers." – Noam Chomsky
Seriously?
What the fuck? Now you're mocking people for using the term "haven"? A perfectly acceptable word when talking about tax-free locations.
Dictionary.com definition of "haven"
Now, as a person for whom English is his 3rd language, allow me to dumb down my judgment of Roblimo's IQ and knowledge of English to a level that even he should be able to understand, despite it having three syllables: Imbecile.
You may also want to look up the term "walking on cloud nine".
While I hate corporate welfare I really don't know if you can call it that in this case. In fact what they got Twitter to agree to is to build new offices in a scummy slum part of town, which of course will now cost Twitter in extra security and such, in the hopes that they can renew the area and get businesses to move back which will also get the same break if they move into scum town.
Now considering this neighborhood is probably "welcome to the jungle" you are gonna have to offer something for any business to take the risk, and I'm sure there will be employees that will turn down an offer from twitter because they'd have to go into and out of such a rough area.
So while I think bullshit like GE paying almost no taxes by pulling crap like the double dutch IS bullshit and needs to be stopped ASAP, giving a company a break for taking increased risk by moving into bad areas in the hope of fixing them up is just smart. The same was done several years ago in my own state with the river market area, and whereas before the place looked like Beirut, what with all the bombed out looking buildings and garbage everywhere, now it is a really nice neighborhood with little shops and a thriving gay community.
Everything there is clean and nice with plenty of foot paths and nobody is afraid to walk there anymore, so I'd say the tax breaks the city gave were money well spent. If by giving them a tax break the city of SF can do the same to one of their slums why not? Better than just letting the buildings fall apart and become fire hazards like Detroit.
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
I do think it is motherfucking bullshit that I pay a higher percentage of my income in taxes than these companies
First off, the tax in question here is a payroll tax which comes out of the employees' salaries and stock options. So this is a good thing for workers at Twitter.
Second, you only pay income tax on your net income. Of course, when people piss and moan about corporations "not paying their share", they only look at their gross income. Companies can have enough expenses in a year that they essentially have no or little income, and you have to keep that in mind when looking at their tax burden.
Third, a company that is successful and hires lots of workers is going to pay into Social Security and other tax schemes through payroll taxes. So whether the corporation itself pays taxes or not, the government is still getting money from them. No one gets out of paying completely, it just doesn't happen.
God invented whiskey so the Irish would not rule the world.
So, why did you start an S-corp if you don't like the laws governing them?
Let me guess -- because you wanted to take any losses on your personal income tax, and gain the ability to claim things as business expenses. Seems like you're getting consideration in this deal too.