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Fair Tax Mark – Yep, Cretins

In terms of ranking, none of the Six is an exemplar
of responsible tax conduct. However, the degree of
irresponsibility and the relative tax contribution made
does vary. Amazon has paid just $3.4bn in income
taxes this decade, whilst Apple has paid $93.8bn
and Microsoft has paid $46.9bn. This is a staggering
variance, especially as Amazon’s revenue over this
period exceeded that of Microsoft’s by almost $80bn

Just maybe Amazon made less in profits?

Amazon. Stands out as the business with the poorest tax conduct, having paid just $3.4bn
in income taxes this decade. The cash tax paid was 12.7% of profit over the decade, at a time
when the federal headline rate of tax in the United States was 35% for seven of the eight
years under examination. The company is growing its market domination across the globe
on the back of revenues that are largely untaxed, and can unfairly undercut local businesses
that take a more responsible approach. The situation is unlikely to reverse soon given the
$9.3bn of operating loss carryforwards available to offset against future profits and taxes.

Yep. Cretins.

Oh, and guess what? They’re calculating against profits recorded. Not the net position of profits and losses recorded…..truly cretins

9 thoughts on “Fair Tax Mark – Yep, Cretins”

  1. One is in manufacturing, one services, one retail; it’s almost a textbook example of different profit margins in different sectors.

  2. People who demonstrably know SFA about tax are able to charge fees to issue opinions on…. tax and are quoted uncritically and with approval by the left wing idiotocracy. Nice gig if you can get it.

    Well I suppose Murphy’s made an entire career on the same basis.

  3. Well I suppose Murphy’s made an entire career on the same basis.

    True, BF, but he’s not grown fat on it.
    Er, well you know what I mean.

  4. Dennis, CPA to the Gods

    The numbers quoted by Rm are in error. Neither taxable income nor actual income tax due can be accurately determined using financial statements and government (SEC, for example) filings. The information required simply isn’t there.

    While you can go to the 10-K and get a figure for income taxes paid (net of refunds), what you don’t get is income taxes paid for the current period’s taxable income. The figure will include payments against tax due from previous periods as well as estimated tax payments made for the current period. In addition, it will include income tax expense, refunds and estimated payments for all countries Amazon operates in, not just the USA.

    In the USA, any c corporation that generates more than $500 in income tax is required by law to make estimated tax payments on the current year’s estimated (tax basis) tax expense. I’d suspect that even countries as backward as Britain, France, Germany, Japan and China probably require something similar.

    RM and the FTM have no idea what Amazon’s actual annual income tax expense is. In fact, they have no idea what Amazon’s actual taxable income is. That’s because they don’t have access to Amazon’s tax returns. It is as simple as that.

    And as I noted a day or two ago, RM and FTM fully acknowledge that Amazon has a loss carryforward of $9 billion at present. And as Timmy notes today, RM and FTM simply ignore it altogether in order to get to their predetermined “fact” finding.

    Historically, Amazon hasn’t been a terribly profitable company. It’s last annual loss came as late as 2014. To group it with the likes of Google, Microsoft and Apple simply makes no sense from an analytical standpoint. It does make sense, however, if you’re looking to generate a headline or two.

  5. “In the USA, any c corporation that generates more than $500 in income tax is required by law to make estimated tax payments on the current year’s estimated (tax basis) tax expense. I’d suspect that even countries as backward as Britain, France, Germany, Japan and China probably require something similar.

    Dennis,
    Not in Britbongland. Corporation tax is paid in arrears, due 9m after the accounting year end.
    T. Small company owner. Don’t think it’s any different for larger companies.

  6. “Corporation tax is paid in arrears, due 9m after the accounting year end.
    T. Small company owner. Don’t think it’s any different for larger companies.”

    Given all sole traders on Self Assessment making little more than the tax thresholds have to make payments ‘on account’ for the tax year that one is in, I really can’t think that HMRC is going to let billions of pounds of tax payments sit in the bank accounts of large corporations and only ask for it 9 months after the end of the tax year. Far more likely is that they have to pay something based on last years profits, and then there is a tally up 9 months after the end of the tax year when either a bit more is due or there’s a refund to come because you’ve paid too much.

    A bit of Googling soon finds this:

    https://www.gov.uk/guidance/corporation-tax-paying-in-instalments#when-instalment-payments-have-to-be-paid

    Corporations have to pay in quarterly instalments, 2 of which are within the accounting year in question. Corporations will have had to pay three quarters of the tax due by a few days after the end of the accounting period, and will make the final payment 3 months after their tax year end.

    And a bit more googling discovers this:

    https://www.gov.uk/guidance/pay-corporation-tax-if-youre-a-very-large-company

    Very large corporations (taxable profits over £20m) have to pay all 4 quarterly tax instalments within the accounting period in question.

    The State wants its pound of flesh, and doesn’t plan on waiting for it……..

  7. Silverite said:
    “Corporation tax is paid in arrears, due 9m after the accounting year end.”

    Only for smaller companies (profits of less than £1.5 million, I think).

    Larger ones have to make payments on account, some of which are before the end of the year (how much is before the year end depends on how large the company is).

    Also a company’s payments on account have to be based on an estimate of the tax due for that year (unlike self-employed individuals, who make payments on account based on the previous year’s profits).

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