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Netflix Posted Biggest-Ever Profit in 2018 and Paid $0 in Income Taxes

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Re: Netflix Posted Biggest-Ever Profit in 2018 and Paid $0 in Income Taxes

#71

Post by refurb »

onion2k wrote: post #48
driverdan wrote: post #34

Rather than being outraged at the headline, what are the actual details? Why were they able to pay no taxes? Was it due to carried losses or something like that? Anyone mad at a company for not pay taxes is misdirecting their anger. Companies follow the law. If you don't like the law elect different politicians. Don't get mad at companies that follow the law.

If I spend a few million to get some lawyers to work out a legal loophole that means I can murder someone and get away with it that wouldn't make it OK to actually do it. The same applies to tax avoidance. It might be legal but it's still wrong .

Would you include 401k as a loophole that is legal but wrong?

401K was not the idea of some smart legislator. The 401K name comes from a section of the IRS code. This section was added in 1978 but for 2 years no one paid much attention to it. A creative interpretation of that provision by a smart consultant gave birth to first 401k savings plan. The government tried to repeal the 401K provision twice once it realized the enormous tax loss from the 401K provision.

http://401kbenna.com/401k-history.html

Re: Netflix Posted Biggest-Ever Profit in 2018 and Paid $0 in Income Taxes

#72

Post by elcomet »

refurb wrote: post #67
otachack wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not that simple. Companies lobby to keep, even coerce, laws that benefit them and allow these sorts of things to happen. What is the common person, or collection of persons, supposed to do when they are against that kind of force? I believe one way is to actually be involved in politics and get into the seats that govern and make the laws. But it's easier said than done.

Honest question - can you give an example of a tax law that was lobbied for that benefited corporations? And I mean beyond just a decrease in tax rate which businesses would be expected to lobby for.

Big companies lobby every law for their benefits. They hire full time lobyists. Big companies can pay million $ a year for lobbying.

Then the question is, does it really influence laws? Well I think if it didn't, they wouldn't spend so much money.

Re: Netflix Posted Biggest-Ever Profit in 2018 and Paid $0 in Income Taxes

#73

Post by [deleted] »

Symmetry wrote: post #69
onion2k wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I spend a few million to get some lawyers to work out a legal loophole that means I can murder someone and get away with it that wouldn't make it OK to actually do it. The same applies to tax avoidance. It might be legal but it's still wrong .

In this case the way Netflix avoided income taxes was entirely reasonable and something I would hope to add to the legal code if it wasn't already there, like the self defense exception for murder charges.

[deleted]

Re: Netflix Posted Biggest-Ever Profit in 2018 and Paid $0 in Income Taxes

#74

Post by vkou »

clarkmoody wrote: post #55

Populist clickbait headline is clickbait. I'm sure Netflix paid tons in employer contributions to employee income taxes, social security taxes, etc. They probably paid a bunch in sales taxes where they made purchases. Property taxes for data centers, office buildings, etc. So there are many more taxes that everyone pays beyond the income tax. As others have pointed out, the tax code is immensely complex, but you prob…

> I'm sure Netflix paid tons in employer contributions to employee income taxes, social security taxes, etc.

I pay sales taxes, and my landlord pays property taxes, and I gave $500 to charity last year.

Does that excuse me from paying any income taxes on $300,000 of salary, or do I need to structure that compensation through a double Irish sandwitch, first?

Alternatively, if a shoplifter steals $500 of goods, but pays $50 for some cigs, and a bottle of wine, do we shrug our shoulders, and say: 'At least he paid for the wine!'

Re: Netflix Posted Biggest-Ever Profit in 2018 and Paid $0 in Income Taxes

#75

Post by rayiner »

onion2k wrote: post #48
driverdan wrote: post #34

Rather than being outraged at the headline, what are the actual details? Why were they able to pay no taxes? Was it due to carried losses or something like that? Anyone mad at a company for not pay taxes is misdirecting their anger. Companies follow the law. If you don't like the law elect different politicians. Don't get mad at companies that follow the law.

If I spend a few million to get some lawyers to work out a legal loophole that means I can murder someone and get away with it that wouldn't make it OK to actually do it. The same applies to tax avoidance. It might be legal but it's still wrong .

If it's due to carryover losses, which is usually what this sort of rage bait boils down to, it's not only "legal" but "not wrong." Carryover losses are the mathematical byproduct of a tax system that taxes gains in wealth (i.e. income) but must be sampled annually. It would be completely brain damaged to treat two companies differently that make the same total profit over a fixed period depending merely on the pattern of profits and losses over that period. There would be no value to it other than mitigating misdirected outrage from people ignorant about how taxes work.

Re: Netflix Posted Biggest-Ever Profit in 2018 and Paid $0 in Income Taxes

#76

Post by mverwijs »

driverdan wrote: post #34

Rather than being outraged at the headline, what are the actual details? Why were they able to pay no taxes? Was it due to carried losses or something like that? Anyone mad at a company for not pay taxes is misdirecting their anger. Companies follow the law. If you don't like the law elect different politicians. Don't get mad at companies that follow the law.

Could it be possible that sometimes laws are immoral? And that companies, while following the letter of the law are in fact acting immoral too?

Why defend those companies?

Re: Netflix Posted Biggest-Ever Profit in 2018 and Paid $0 in Income Taxes

#78

Post by jaltekruse »

refurb wrote: post #67
otachack wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not that simple. Companies lobby to keep, even coerce, laws that benefit them and allow these sorts of things to happen. What is the common person, or collection of persons, supposed to do when they are against that kind of force? I believe one way is to actually be involved in politics and get into the seats that govern and make the laws. But it's easier said than done.

Honest question - can you give an example of a tax law that was lobbied for that benefited corporations? And I mean beyond just a decrease in tax rate which businesses would be expected to lobby for.

Maybe the reduction of the corporate rate during the trump tax cuts? The defense of this change, was that it was going to bring home money stashed in foreign tax havens.

During the bush tax cuts, there was also a tax holiday that allowed money to be brought back into the US at a very low tax rate. Can't imagine that 0 corporate lobbyists were involved in the process of creating these laws.

from wikipedia: "In 2004, the United States Congress enacted such a tax holiday for U.S. multinational companies in the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 (AJCA)) section 965, allowing them to repatriate foreign profits to the United States at a 5.25% tax rate, rather than the existing 35% corporate tax rate."

Re: Netflix Posted Biggest-Ever Profit in 2018 and Paid $0 in Income Taxes

#79

Post by chanandler_bong »

otachack wrote: post #46
driverdan wrote: post #34

Rather than being outraged at the headline, what are the actual details? Why were they able to pay no taxes? Was it due to carried losses or something like that? Anyone mad at a company for not pay taxes is misdirecting their anger. Companies follow the law. If you don't like the law elect different politicians. Don't get mad at companies that follow the law.

It's not that simple. Companies lobby to keep, even coerce, laws that benefit them and allow these sorts of things to happen. What is the common person, or collection of persons, supposed to do when they are against that kind of force? I believe one way is to actually be involved in politics and get into the seats that govern and make the laws. But it's easier said than done.

The answer is to outlaw lobbyists, it would fix a lot of problems. That, and enact term limits for Congress. That will fix even more.
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