G7: Rich nations back deal to tax multinationals

Post by TomVDB » Sat, Jun 05, 2021, 3:34 PM UTC

IanCal wrote: post #253

mrgordon wrote: post #214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’re ignoring that the companies can just keep lots of cash without distributing it to individuals in order to avoid taxation under your system. So for example the company can rent houses, cars, and airplanes for every employee to ensure there is not much money left to be taxed as income. On paper they look like corporate expenses but it’s really just a way to distribute money without it being taxable.

> You’re ignoring that the companies can just keep lots of cash without distributing it to individuals Nobody benefits from a company growing indefinite wealth without distributing it to actual people. > So for example the company can rent houses, cars, and airplanes for every employee If they could do this, all companies would do this already to avoid taxes. In reality, this is dealt with by (in the UK) considering…

Post by darksaints » Sat, Jun 05, 2021, 3:35 PM UTC

mrgordon wrote: post #214

rjknight wrote: post #162

I do wonder if we wouldn't be better off eliminating corporation tax entirely. The revenue of a corporation can, roughly, be: 1. Spent on goods or services from another company (including freelancers, contractors, etc.) 2. Spent on rent 3. Spent on capital purchases 4. Spent on wages 5. Spent on debt repayment or other forms of financing 6. Paid out in dividends 7. Spent on share buybacks 8. Invested in something els…

You’re ignoring that the companies can just keep lots of cash without distributing it to individuals in order to avoid taxation under your system. So for example the company can rent houses, cars, and airplanes for every employee to ensure there is not much money left to be taxed as income. On paper they look like corporate expenses but it’s really just a way to distribute money without it being taxable.

Post by [deleted] » Sat, Jun 05, 2021, 3:37 PM UTC

flavius29663 wrote: post #324

EMM_386 wrote: post #252

This is absolutely necessary. Think about this Microsoft Irish subsidiary that "made" $200 billion with ZERO EMPLOYEES. Not even a single person to go buy a sandwich at lunch and "help the local economy". Nobody. The only beneficiary is Microsoft because nobody gets any tax revenue. And Microsoft can just hoard cash, it's not like they are going to rain it down to everyone's paycheck. This is a global problem, it req…

they do have some employees - the directors > Microsoft Round Island One, the registered address of which is at an office of the law firm Matheson in Dublin, states in its accounts that it has “no employees other than the directors”. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/03/microsoft-iris... What the Guardian is not saying (but I am not surprised, since it's a rag) is that MS has a huge presence in Ireland, in a…

Post by kaveh_h » Sat, Jun 05, 2021, 3:38 PM UTC

sokoloff wrote: post #233

StopHammoTime wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here’s an idea, let’s charge tax on revenue and it can just be the cost of doing business. Small businesses get a tax holiday for the first few years. Problem solved.

Taxes on revenue create strong incentives for vertical integration and consolidation (because there are fewer links in the chain to be taxed). If one entity owns the farm, the food distribution, and the grocery store, they have one revenue transaction to be taxed. A small farmer selling their eggs to a distributor who sells them to the grocer who sells them to you is taxed three times on what amounts to same activity…

Post by lostcolony » Sat, Jun 05, 2021, 3:39 PM UTC

peoplefromibiza wrote: post #330

valenterry wrote: post #316

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly this. Imagine a company that has makes X dollars and spends X dollars. So the company pays no tax. What that means is that all the other tax payers pay for all the infrastructure. And that's fine, but if such a company ever needs to call the police and go to court, etc., they then would have to pay all of that out of their pockets (i.e. the work of the police, the lawyers and judges, and so on).

the fact that streets are illuminate at night and pollice patrols them is using services provided by taxpayer's money. Uber benefits from streets more than the average citizen. if corporations had to pay per use, they would prefer to build their private infrastructures and police forces, while public infrastructure would lag behind chronically underfunded.