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Not Just Apple, How Microsoft Sidestepped Billions In State Taxes
reifman writes "Apple's not the only company to save billions in taxes through Nevada as The New York Times reported yesterday. Here's how Microsoft's saved $4.37 billion in tax payments to Washington State and how it's led indirectly to $4 billion in K-12 and Higher Education cuts since 2008. 18% of University of Washington freshman are now foreigners (because they pay more) up from 2% six years ago. Washington State ranks 47th nationally in 18-24 yo college enrollment and 48th in K-12 class size. This hasn't stopped the architect of the company's Nevada tax dodge from writing in The Seattle Times: 'it's [Washington] state's paramount duty to provide for the public education of all children. Unfortunately, steady declines in public resources now threaten our ability to live up to that commitment.' Yes, indeed."
Except no one is moving to Nevada. The open an accounting office there, at most. More likely it is just a PO Box.
Microsoft's major physical presence is in Redmond, WA and the surrounding area.
I wonder what Washington would lose in the way of property tax and sales taxes in Microsoft moved wholesale to Nevada -- and most of their employees up and moved. I'll bet it is a damn sight more than $4 billion.
Learning HOW to think is more important than learning WHAT to think.
What do you think Microsoft owes you, and why?
-jcr
Because MS uses the infrastructure and expects the rest of us including its workers to pay for the right to work. Where I come from that is slavery when you work for free. True the student should pay for some of it, but MS is the benefactor in recruiting CS students from U of Washington. Infact, U of Washington is cutting its computer science program from lack of funding.
Who gets hurt now? Not the students but Microsoft. It is also not fair for Microsoft to soley pay either as its a public good that benefits other employers in the area and a level tax keeps it fair that everyone pays and benefits.
Businesses use roads to ship products, uses the military to keep the world safe to do business, businesses benefit the most from IP laws, and free trade. I would even say they benefit a lot more than you nor I. IP laws and free trade hurt us more than anything. It is there to benefit employers who do not pay for it but expect it others to pay for it then go in a right wing circle jerk about the evils of welfare moms when they are the worst ones.
MS did the right thing by avoiding taxes as an individual corporation. However, the loopholes need to be closed. Austerity will come to the US soon and you and I will end up paying for things your employer uses through forced higher taxes.
http://saveie6.com/
The most "fair" tax is wealth, not income. Taxing income hold back those who are trying to gain wealth, so the wealthy (those with the power) prefer taxing income. Not to mention that the rich live off billions with zero income. What were the tax bills on Steve Jobs the last 5 years of his life? He made $1 in salary and didn't cash out his stock, instead, he hoarded it and borrowed against it, which allows him to spend it without being taxed on it.
But taxing wealth will never happen (except at death, when it is essentially income for others) because the rich don't want it, and counting wealth is hard.
Learn to love Alaska
Does geeknet, Inc. pay accountants to minimize their tax burden?
Are you assuming slashdot still brings in enough traffic to make money?
Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
College is for the unmotivated or those who have to be spoonfed their information.
Yeah, you're right.
Let's all hope all the medical staff you ever meet isn't self-taught.
Or that building you live in isn't designed and made by a self-taught architects and builders.
Or that your car, computer, mobile phone, blender, pace-maker etc. are not products someone who's self-taught banged together in their garage out of bubblegum and lint.
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
For the most part they're just greedy assholes who think they've found an ideology that can justify what is nothing more than pure, unadulterated selfishness.
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
Psst, they profit off of my labors, or else I wouldn't have the fucking job in the first place. So clearly, they're getting a little something out of the arrangement, too.
Oh, sorry, is that not properly deferential? Or are we going to suspend all logic and pretend that these guys hire us out of civic virtue alone?
I think everyone tries to minimize their tax burden. What makes these companies stand out is the vast extent of effort they put into it.
I earn an above average salary and I pay my accountant to do my taxes to ensure that I am able to claim all the deductions that I am entitled to. The difference is that I don't have a shell company set up in a tax haven paying me in some nefarious manner that is done to avoid yet another fee of some sort. These stories wouldn't be stories if MS or Apple simply claimed all that they could on their tax statements, they are stories because of the absurd lengths that they go to. I am absolutely sure that /. and many websites try to claim all that they are entitled to, but I would be exceptionally surprised if the lengths that they went to included offshore tax havens, "Offices" set up in a state to claim a different regional address and the like.
Summary: when you do it that's OK, but when someone else does it, that's bad.
As long as teachers are paid with tax and/or fake inflation money, the people who pay these taxes should be against them.
"us" vs "them" ? Like it is a war, against them, the teachers, nurses, firemen, policemen, soldier, politician ? ... and all the big and not so big companies get boatload of money from the government either directly through contract or indirectly through customised regulation. It also us vs them, the employee of the top-500 companies including their CEO.
...) to them.
Wait, Microsoft, IBM, Boeing,
And the bailout ? Add all the bankers and all their support people (it, pa, cleaner,
It starts to be pretty crowded on the "them" side.
If the corps paying fairly get named, than there share holders could sue for not doing their jobs.