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Microsoft Irish subsidiary paid zero corporate tax on £220bn profit last year

theguardian.com

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Re: Microsoft Irish subsidiary paid zero corporate tax on £220bn profit last year

#201

Post by rogual »

mutatio wrote: post #90
rorykoehler wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No one pays that much in a progressive tax system. Every time this discussion comes up people spout off these numbers but if you calculate out how much you actually pay it's probably in the 20-30% of total salary range. That's still high but it's just dishonest and makes people look like idiots when they throw around 40% etc. If you are truly paying 40% of your income in tax you are earning millions and are benefitin…

In the UK, if you're a contractor caught by IR35 and earn £600 per day, your effective tax rate is 40% if the client allows you to engage using your Ltd. company. If you use an umbrella you'll be even worse off. Net income from the arrangement would be £69,925 based on 190 days billed.

Yes, it's very hostile to independent contractors, especially with the new rules this year.

I'm not a conspiracy guy, but it's amusing to note that Rishi Sunak, under whom the changes came in this year, is related (son-in-law) to a cofounder of IT consulting behemoth Infosys.

Re: Microsoft Irish subsidiary paid zero corporate tax on £220bn profit last year

#202

Post by EMM_386 »

gruez wrote: post #183
EMM_386 wrote: post #164

What is the solution to this? I've wracked my brain and can't come up with anything. Companies will just continue to flee to whatever country is now offering 0%. Christmas Island has a new 0% corporate tax policy? Let's go buy a mailbox there and move our "headquarters". The old-school thinking is that low corporate tax policies encourage business, creating jobs in the process and boosting that country's economy. In…

>The only thing I can think is that this entire thing has to be flipped into some sort of "VAT"/usage situation. Then it's a consumption tax (aka sales tax), which we already have and is generally regressive.

So there is no solution then. The entire concept of "corporate taxes" can be thrown out the window because they will just set up "shop" wherever is offering 0%.

And whichever country that happens to be at the moment gains nothing other than a shell company with zero employees.

Re: Microsoft Irish subsidiary paid zero corporate tax on £220bn profit last year

#203

Post by akudha »

new_here wrote: post #182

Take a moment to comprehend those numbers: FY18/19 - under $10bn profit FY19/20 - $314.7bn profit (3/4 of Ireland's GDP) and paid no tax on it. > The subsidiary, which collects licence fees for use of copyrighted Microsoft software around the world, recorded an annual profit of $314.7bn in the year to the end of June 2020, according to accounts filed at the Irish Companies Registration Office. Its profits jumped from…

One company’s single year profit is three quarters of GDP of a nation of 5 million people!!! With that much economic power, it is no wonder these multinationals write the rules as they please

Re: Microsoft Irish subsidiary paid zero corporate tax on £220bn profit last year

#204

Post by TimPC »

namdnay wrote: post #195
fxtentacle wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Won't work because all truly wealthy people can secure their wealth against inflation, while poor people cannot. As a simple example, consider owning a house vs. renting. If you own the house, the actual number doesn't matter. If you're renting, the ratio between rent and salary is highly critical for your lifestyle.

> Won't work because all truly wealthy people can secure their wealth against inflation, while poor people cannot. I don't agree with this. The "truly wealthy" don't have any magic recipes that are better long-term than just MSCI World ETF or similar > As a simple example, consider owning a house vs. renting. If you own the house, the actual number doesn't matter. If you're renting, the ratio between rent and salary…

What makes you think salaries will suddenly increase in lockstep when they’ve been increasing slower than inflation since about 1970?

Re: Microsoft Irish subsidiary paid zero corporate tax on £220bn profit last year

#205

Post by rorykoehler »

Lionga wrote: post #188
rorykoehler wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They use your currency because they get paid in it. Government spending doesn't disappear into a black hole never to be seen again. [FALSE]>>> Also it's illegal to use other currencies as tender in (probably?) all countries in the world (Zimbabwe uses/used(?) the US dollar but I'm not aware of any other instances).

People of Venezuela would like to have a word with you

They are doing it illegally. My point still stands.

Re: Microsoft Irish subsidiary paid zero corporate tax on £220bn profit last year

#206

Post by pulse7 »

This is unjust and unfair! Advice to local governments in EU countries and elsewhere: just write laws to tax such companies locally with "internet tax for companies with over 100 million USD in revenue" and do it NOW! These corporations will do this for so long as it is possible... they don't have any intent to stop it... it is legal, but it is unjust and unfair...

Re: Microsoft Irish subsidiary paid zero corporate tax on £220bn profit last year

#207

Post by roenxi »

pydry wrote: post #97
roenxi wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Say you redirect $100 million away from Microsoft's research into artificial intelligence and redirect it to a government project promoting artificial intelligence research + junkets for government employees. It is certainly plausible that a tax will provide no additional benefit. Microsoft is one of the great value creators of the late 20th/early 21st century. it is not immediately obvious why redirecting money away…

It's interesting that you said redirect $100 million away from Microsoft's research (cost) rather than Microsoft's shareholders pockets. Were you deliberately or accidentally confusing the two?

A reasonable point. But then the money is being taxed, because money is taxed when it is returned to shareholders.

It certainly isn't obvious that raising taxes is a net win. Experience to date is that a 100% tax rate is very bad, so logically there is a fair limit somewhere between 0% and 100% - ie, a specific fair rate that is not the word "more".

Certainly Ireland would like a slice of those billions of dollars - but if they try to take a big slice, Microsoft won't route the billions through Ireland. So it is a somewhat moot point in that specific case.

Re: Microsoft Irish subsidiary paid zero corporate tax on £220bn profit last year

#209

Post by motives »

TomGullen wrote: post #45
kowlo wrote: post #5

Meanwhile my (single-person) company is paying around 20% corporation tax, and then I'm getting taxed a further 20-40% on top of that when I pay myself.

We're also in the UK, make sure you're taking advantage of any tax benefits you may be entitled to such as R&D tax credits. They are back datable.

Also worth mentioning in the case of Ireland the KDB, whereby you can get an effective 6.25% rate on your corporation tax for certain R&D heavy activities (software etc.). This would be advantageous I think for most smaller businesses HNers are typically involved in if they wish to operate in the EU.

Re: Microsoft Irish subsidiary paid zero corporate tax on £220bn profit last year

#210

Post by yunohn »

rorykoehler wrote: post #181
yunohn wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Social spending is quite high, but I’d like to believe that atleast it’s enriching the average person and not only corporate execs. The reason there’s so many Teslas is because up until 2021, you could get significant tax benefits, if you purchased an electric car via your employer for “work”. If you look past Teslas, you’ll see that most people own average family cars. Amsterdam does have people with “expensive tast…

>you could get significant tax benefits This is a significant piece of information in this discussion.

Well, again, this only really helps people who are able to swing such an expensive car as a “work expense”. In absolute numbers, Teslas are a minority of 0.4% in the NL car market.

source - https://www.statista.com/statistics/780316/market-share-of-t...

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