Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Netflix Made Record Profits in 2020, Paid a Tax Rate of Less Than 1 Percent

itep.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

391–400 of 404 posts

Re: Netflix Made Record Profits in 2020, Paid a Tax Rate of Less Than 1 Percent

#391

Post by [deleted] »

verbify wrote: post #63
nvarsj wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In pretty much every western European country your tax rates can easily hit 60%+ (like the 100k 60% cliff in the UK). The budgets of these governments are all largely funded on the backs of middle class income tax - 40% of all receipts in the UK, plus another 10-15% from VAT - compared to a lowly 9% from corporation tax [1]. You have to wonder how the economy can ever evolve given everything is geared towards suppres…

The 60% effective tax rate is only on earnings between 100k and 125k, and only because of the loss of certain tax benefits. After 125k it drops back to 40%. It's really silly that it exists, but isn't representative of UK tax rates, it is just a weird side effect of the loss of the personal allowance. And I reckon most earning between 100k and 125k would avoid that 60% by contributing to their pension, so I don't thi…

[deleted]

Re: Netflix Made Record Profits in 2020, Paid a Tax Rate of Less Than 1 Percent

#392

Post by crispyambulance »

thehappypm wrote: post #382
webinvest wrote: post #380

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For the privilege of continued access to a workforce that was educated by public schooling For access to roads that are maintained by tax dollars For environmental damages and other negative externalities that the tax payer has to pay to clean up For an army and police system that allows the flow of commerce to continue without attacks and interruption For a sovereign wealth fund if there is a surplus of tax revenue…

You’re describing taxes. But why specifically taxes on profits? Why not taxes on things like property? Payroll? Sales taxes on things they buy? The myriad of taxes their employees pay? Why tax profits?

We now have a situation were the tax code is intractably complex because of DECADES of finagling by the wealthy and their corporations to set things up strictly and shamelessly in their favor.

Sorry, but I just can't feel any sympathy for corporations and the wealthy who reap massive profit, in part, because they've long ago set up loopholes and laws to avoid paying a fair share.

So what is a fair share? Well, for starters, one that doesn't rely on a 2+ million word tax code and reams of related laws most of which serve to make exceptions for the wealthy.

Re: Netflix Made Record Profits in 2020, Paid a Tax Rate of Less Than 1 Percent

#393

Post by Retric »

smaryjerry wrote: post #390
Retric wrote: post #383

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> And who decides when it has “stopped working.” Initially the company, though audits and penalties help keep them honest. > accelerated depreciation is a big factor in determining whether projects occur And clearly that’s a problem. Just as government farm subsidies waste money growing excess food accelerated depreciation causes significant economic waste. > CPA Ahh, there’s your problem a CPA has nothing to do with…

Didn’t read, I’m not here to teach you accounting.

Sure, I point out being a CPA is meaningless here and you get really defensive. Grow up and you might break 200 karma before 2022.

Re: Netflix Made Record Profits in 2020, Paid a Tax Rate of Less Than 1 Percent

#394

Post by thehappypm »

crispyambulance wrote: post #392
thehappypm wrote: post #382

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’re describing taxes. But why specifically taxes on profits? Why not taxes on things like property? Payroll? Sales taxes on things they buy? The myriad of taxes their employees pay? Why tax profits?

We now have a situation were the tax code is intractably complex because of DECADES of finagling by the wealthy and their corporations to set things up strictly and shamelessly in their favor. Sorry, but I just can't feel any sympathy for corporations and the wealthy who reap massive profit, in part, because they've long ago set up loopholes and laws to avoid paying a fair share. So what is a fair share? Well, for st…

You're dodging the question: why tax profits?

Re: Netflix Made Record Profits in 2020, Paid a Tax Rate of Less Than 1 Percent

#395

Post by rev_d »

pc86 wrote: post #137
rev_d wrote: post #118

What's also quite gross about this is that we have large multinationals paying zero in taxes to the US government, but there are small businesses owned by overseas US citizens that are being subjected to both resident country & US tax due to the US being "unique" in its practice of taxing overseas citizens. If you're small, you get hit by the tax. If you're big enough for creative structuring, you're fine. It's just…

It's only "quite gross" if you have a... gross misunderstanding of how taxes work. They're not paying zero taxes on profit, they haven't profited yet except on arbitrary time scales. Here's a... gross oversimplification: Year 1: Lose $50 million. Total profit: -$50 million. $0 taxes paid. Year 2: Lose $10 million. Total profit: -$60 million. $0 taxes paid. Year 3: Make $35 million. Total profit: -$25 million. $0 taxe…

The big thing with the multinationals is that they're able to pull stunts like corporate inversions & royalty payments to their foreign entity to reduce their profit under the (more heavily taxed) US entity.

Then you have measures intended to rein them in like GILTI & Transition Tax, which end up mostly affecting smaller businesses.

Re: Netflix Made Record Profits in 2020, Paid a Tax Rate of Less Than 1 Percent

#396

Post by gsnedders »

goatinaboat wrote: post #389
scrollaway wrote: post #388

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You just reinvented VAT.

You just reinvented VAT. VAT is passed “through” a company, I mean for this to be charged to the company on what is normally considered income. Essentially, since corporations are supposedly people, they can pay income tax like people.

So you're just replacing a profit tax with a revenue tax? For low-margin industries that'll have a significant impact, and grocery stores for example will be heavily hit by it (Tesco, for example, made £1.3B pre-tax profit on £64.8B revenue, which is roughly expected for the industry), with consequential rises in the prices of food.

A revenue tax disproportionately hits low-margin industries, which typically account for a disproportionate amount of expenditure of low-income households, which is likely a bad thing.

Re: Netflix Made Record Profits in 2020, Paid a Tax Rate of Less Than 1 Percent

#397

Post by throwaway667555 »

gamblor956 wrote: post #355
throwaway667555 wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Adding one thing: in the past, mega-companies spent money on tangible assets which were depreciated over time as they produced income. Now mega-companies spend money on intangible assets but they can expense immediately, so tax is deferred and they can grow without that tax friction. Dollars spent are the same, but expensing is accelerated, shrinking tax and unleashing growth, and the cycle continues. It’s kind of a…

Now mega-companies spend money on intangible assets but they can expense immediately, so tax is deferred and they can grow without that tax friction. Acquired intangible assets must be amortized (aka depreciation for things that don't physically exist) over 15 years, not immediately (some intangibles can be amortized over a 3-5 year time frame). And self-developed intangible assets cannot be amortized at all.

I don’t see the assets on their balance sheets? I.e, they’re being expensed. Our disagreement is about the definition of intangible asset. Under current regulations, intangible assets are understated versus reality. This is my point.

Re: Netflix Made Record Profits in 2020, Paid a Tax Rate of Less Than 1 Percent

#398

Post by verbify »

drdec wrote: post #215
verbify wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The 60% effective tax rate is only on earnings between 100k and 125k, and only because of the loss of certain tax benefits. After 125k it drops back to 40%. It's really silly that it exists, but isn't representative of UK tax rates, it is just a weird side effect of the loss of the personal allowance. And I reckon most earning between 100k and 125k would avoid that 60% by contributing to their pension, so I don't thi…

Surely you mean marginal tax rates and not effective rates? Or is it true that at 124K you pay ~74K but at 126K you pay less, ~50K?

Sorry, you're right I meant marginal.

Re: Netflix Made Record Profits in 2020, Paid a Tax Rate of Less Than 1 Percent

#399

Post by crispyambulance »

thehappypm wrote: post #394
crispyambulance wrote: post #392

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We now have a situation were the tax code is intractably complex because of DECADES of finagling by the wealthy and their corporations to set things up strictly and shamelessly in their favor. Sorry, but I just can't feel any sympathy for corporations and the wealthy who reap massive profit, in part, because they've long ago set up loopholes and laws to avoid paying a fair share. So what is a fair share? Well, for st…

You're dodging the question: why tax profits?

Why not?

If you strictly and only tax consumption and property, you will have large segments of the population living hand-to-mouth, trapped in a vicious cycle of poverty and and hard labor in a hole that requires super-human or generational effort to get out of. Meanwhile, those who started with a leg up will continue to accelerate their net-worth. There are people who "make money" by "having money" and under your rules those people would only pay taxes on the fees they pay to their money manager. We aren't THAT far from that now were it not for the miserly 15% investment income tax.

I realize the typical HN-libertarian-calvinist view is that everything needs to be transactional. Transactional down to the level that the taxes someone pays would ideally go towards the services that they as an individual use, and that everyone needs to work in order order to be "worthy" of a social-safety-net (assuming a safety-net has to exist, which isn't a given in such points of view). It doesn't have to be that way but sadly there are motions in that direction.

Re: Netflix Made Record Profits in 2020, Paid a Tax Rate of Less Than 1 Percent

#400

Post by thehappypm »

crispyambulance wrote: post #399
thehappypm wrote: post #394

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're dodging the question: why tax profits?

Why not? If you strictly and only tax consumption and property, you will have large segments of the population living hand-to-mouth, trapped in a vicious cycle of poverty and and hard labor in a hole that requires super-human or generational effort to get out of. Meanwhile, those who started with a leg up will continue to accelerate their net-worth. There are people who "make money" by "having money" and under your r…

Still, why tax profits? Why not tax net worth? Why not revenue? Humans get taxed on their "revenue" (income).
Post reply on HN