Slashdot Mirror
Amazon's Luxembourg Tax Deals
Presto Vivace writes in with this story of a European Commission investigation into a secret tax agreement between Amazon and Luxembourg. "Leaked tax documents from accounting firm PwC in Luxembourg show how Amazon sidesteps the 30 per cent tax rates local [Australian] players face. The Luxembourg documents, obtained in a review led by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, contain some of the first hard numbers and details on how Amazon pays virtually no tax for its non-US earnings, including in Australia. Last month, the European Commission announced an investigation into the secret 2003 advance tax agreement Amazon struck with Luxembourg that is the key to its global tax strategy. The Luxembourg documents show not only the extent of the related-party transactions in Amazon's Luxembourg companies but how Amazon has changed its tax strategy after investigation by French tax authorities and the US Internal Revenue Service. The change is so dramatic it raises questions whether the European Commission is targeting the right transactions."
Cool, the people involved in this are going before a jury, right? ...right?
No.
And it's worth noting that Apple and Microsoft do the same thing, but because they're paying Slashdot, we're being set onto one of their competitors instead, like the baying pack of dogs we are.
They're just playing the game that's being played, they all do it. For example: Apple's Tax Strategy
No, much of their local competition in book sales etc (not being international companies with multiple subsidiaries in the EU) are not doing this. Apple etc's competitors are generally multinationals who also play these tricks. But in many cases Amazon's are not, and the effects of tax abuse are that much more problematic as they don't only affect tax revenue but also distort the market.
No. I pay taxes because it's my duty to society.
I also don't rob banks, because I consider it an obligation to society not to do so.
Perhaps you are a sociopath, and we need threats of violence to control people like you but not all of us are that way.