Bezos donates $100M each to CNN contributor Van Jones and chef Jose Andres • Hacker News Board

Re: Bezos donates $100M each to CNN contributor Van Jones and chef Jose Andres

#101

Post by mlazos » Wed, Jul 21, 2021, 6:52 PM UTC

kstrauser wrote: post #66

tills13 wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a tax write-off.

I'll explain why that comment almost never makes sense. Let's say your tax rate is 50% and your taxable income is $1,000,000, so you'll owe $500,000 in taxes. If you donate $100,000 to charity as a "tax write-off", now your taxable income is only $900,000 and you'll only owe $450,000 in taxes, but you lost $100,000 to save that $50,000 . At the end of the day, you'll have $50,000 less than if you didn't donate anythi…

It’s a write off if they donate that money to a foundation which they lead and can use the resources of. I agree though, that write-off is often used to mean some magical tax loophole though. The former case is very interesting for a lot of rich people though. You can even leave your children in charge to pass the budget to them to use.

Re: Bezos donates $100M each to CNN contributor Van Jones and chef Jose Andres

#102

Post by pb7 » Wed, Jul 21, 2021, 6:52 PM UTC

peakaboo wrote: post #38

Zelphyr wrote: post #9

All the critics lobbing cynicism against Bezos, Branson, and Musk saying, in essence, that their money is better spent here at home reminds me of a wonderful scene from The West Wing when one character asks why we have to go to Mars: "'Cause it's next. For we came out of the cave, and we looked over the hill, and we saw fire. And we crossed the ocean, and we pioneered the West, and we took to the sky. The history of…

I don't know how to put this in a polite way... Let's just say your brain seems to have gotten too much TV entertainment. These billionaires made many billions on covid, while you got a 1400 dollar check so you could survive. These billionaires pay their workers minimum wage every day. People can't get toilet breaks at amazon warehouse without being harassed. This guy is a world class parasite. There is nothing "we"…

>These billionaires made many billions on covid, while you got a 1400 dollar check so you could survive.

They made billions from excellent businesses on which the world relied during a time of crisis. What would people have done without the likes of Amazon and fast delivery of nearly everything?

>These billionaires pay their workers minimum wage every day.

No one makes minimum wage at Amazon.

>People can't get toilet breaks at amazon warehouse without being harassed.

Citation needed. Individuals out of a population of 1,000,000 diverse people choosing to do things is not a trend.

>He doesn't care about any of us.

I don't care about him either. It's a business transaction that benefits both parties, nothing more, nothing less.

Re: Bezos donates $100M each to CNN contributor Van Jones and chef Jose Andres

#103

Post by pb7 » Wed, Jul 21, 2021, 6:53 PM UTC

TechBro8615 wrote: post #78

Salgat wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Who pays for the roads that Amazon depends on for deliveries and employee commutes? Who pays for the k-12 educations and public universities that these employees used to become educated? Who pays for the entire social infrastructure that allows Amazon to even exist? That's what people mean when they say Amazon isn't paying their fair share. They depend on us and taxpayer benefits more than almost any other company in…

Do they not pay payroll taxes for the nearly 100k people they employ?

1.3 million*

Re: Bezos donates $100M each to CNN contributor Van Jones and chef Jose Andres

#104

Post by missedthecue » Wed, Jul 21, 2021, 6:54 PM UTC

pb7 wrote: post #87

cassac wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It deserves cynicism. If he wasn’t a jerk he’d just pay his employees more and maybe pay some taxes. When everyone is fair upfront they don’t need to give us free turkeys on thanksgiving we can buy our own.

He pays all the taxes he owes.

And he isn't even involved in any arcane minimization schemes. ProPublica showed that he sold ~$4 billion in Amazon stock last year and paid a billion of it to the government.

Re: Bezos donates $100M each to CNN contributor Van Jones and chef Jose Andres

#105

Post by pb7 » Wed, Jul 21, 2021, 6:54 PM UTC

techrat wrote: post #90

TechBro8615 wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do they not pay payroll taxes for the nearly 100k people they employ?

No. The people they employ pay the payroll taxes out of their salary. No company pays payroll taxes for their employees.

Businesses pay the same amount in payroll taxes as employees do. Self employed people pay double the payroll taxes.

Re: Bezos donates $100M each to CNN contributor Van Jones and chef Jose Andres

#106

Post by mrstone » Wed, Jul 21, 2021, 6:54 PM UTC

havetocharge wrote: post #82

cassac wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It deserves cynicism. If he wasn’t a jerk he’d just pay his employees more and maybe pay some taxes. When everyone is fair upfront they don’t need to give us free turkeys on thanksgiving we can buy our own.

His employees are free to seek a better paid employment if a jerk they work for underpays them. What's up with this nonstop handout mindset lately?

Yeah, why don't they just stop being poor??

Re: Bezos donates $100M each to CNN contributor Van Jones and chef Jose Andres

#107

Post by xibalba » Wed, Jul 21, 2021, 6:55 PM UTC

cassac wrote: post #81

catillac wrote: post #2

There will be a lot of cynicism on this post from the HN crowd, but these are unbelievably good recipients. I have interacted with Jose Andres many times, and go to his DC restaurants when I visit, and he is truly a wonderful soul who spends all his effort helping others. I don’t know much about Van Jones beyond what I see on TV, but if he’s of the same character as Jose Andres, that is stellar and they will both do…

It deserves cynicism. If he wasn’t a jerk he’d just pay his employees more and maybe pay some taxes. When everyone is fair upfront they don’t need to give us free turkeys on thanksgiving we can buy our own.

Wage growth is starting to take off in the US due to extremely fierce competition over job applicants. If, as you say, Amazon doesn't pay employees enough, they will leave in droves for better paying jobs.

Of course, if your facts aren't correct, they won't. To wit, 71% of Amazon workers in the recent unionization drive in Alabama voted against a union, citing, of all things, the good pay and strong benefits of the job.

Re: Bezos donates $100M each to CNN contributor Van Jones and chef Jose Andres

#108

Post by pb7 » Wed, Jul 21, 2021, 6:55 PM UTC

Salgat wrote: post #77

TechBro8615 wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They also caused me exactly zero suffering. In fact, they actually helped me since I was able to order from Amazon throughout the lockdown.

Who pays for the roads that Amazon depends on for deliveries and employee commutes? Who pays for the k-12 educations and public universities that these employees used to become educated? Who pays for the entire social infrastructure that allows Amazon to even exist? That's what people mean when they say Amazon isn't paying their fair share. They depend on us and taxpayer benefits more than almost any other company in…

They are paying exactly what they owe otherwise the IRS would come after them. You have equal access to the same infrastructure. Feel free to start a trillion dollar company.

Re: Bezos donates $100M each to CNN contributor Van Jones and chef Jose Andres

#109

Post by missedthecue » Wed, Jul 21, 2021, 6:58 PM UTC

omegaworks wrote: post #96

kstrauser wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'll explain why that comment almost never makes sense. Let's say your tax rate is 50% and your taxable income is $1,000,000, so you'll owe $500,000 in taxes. If you donate $100,000 to charity as a "tax write-off", now your taxable income is only $900,000 and you'll only owe $450,000 in taxes, but you lost $100,000 to save that $50,000 . At the end of the day, you'll have $50,000 less than if you didn't donate anythi…

Bezos' taxable income isn't $1,000,000. Only an idiot billionaire would structure their day to day processes in ways that were taxable. He likely operates like other extremely wealthy people do[1]: take a small salary to cover the interest on extremely low-interest loans made possible with his massive stock holdings as collateral. 1. https://www.propublica.org/article/the-secret-irs-files-trov...

Your own article literally says Jeff Bezos paid almost a billion dollars in federal income tax on $4.2 billion in income last year. Nothing about crazy schemes to minimize or offshore tax liability.

Re: Bezos donates $100M each to CNN contributor Van Jones and chef Jose Andres

#110

Post by RIMR » Wed, Jul 21, 2021, 6:58 PM UTC

havetocharge wrote: post #82

cassac wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It deserves cynicism. If he wasn’t a jerk he’d just pay his employees more and maybe pay some taxes. When everyone is fair upfront they don’t need to give us free turkeys on thanksgiving we can buy our own.

His employees are free to seek a better paid employment if a jerk they work for underpays them. What's up with this nonstop handout mindset lately?

Expecting a living wage from a full-time job, especially when you're working for one of the most profitable companies in the country headed by the wealthiest man on the planet, isn't a "handout mindset".

You'd have to be an absolute doormat to accept poverty in exchange for your full-time labor. "Get a different job" isn't the solution here, because there is clearly a massive demand for jobs at Amazon, and those jobs should pay people fairly for the work that they do.