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Tesla's Musk Paid at Least $593M in Income Taxes in 2016

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Re: Tesla's Musk Paid at Least $593M in Income Taxes in 2016

#11

Post by marricks »

submeta wrote: post #7

On the other hand this: "Elon Musk's growing empire is fueled by $4.9 billion in government subsidies" http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-hy-musk-subsidies-2015...

Sounds like money better spent to me than the 5 trillion dollars in global fossil fuel subsidies in 2015, or 500 billion just in the US[1]

That 5 billion number for Musk I think is a grand total of all subsidies, spanning all time.

[1] http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X16...

Re: Tesla's Musk Paid at Least $593M in Income Taxes in 2016

#12

Post by gotodengo »

neaanopri wrote: post #3
econner wrote: post #2

Wow. That's a yuge amount of income.

A narrow and literal reading of events makes Musk the richest african american. It's pretty depressing the richest african american is white

I'm not trying to deny the (until very recently legally enforced) class difference between whites and blacks in South Africa, nor the social issues causing hiring discrepancies in the States.

However, it's not a narrow reading of events. Musk is African. Head a bit out of the way in South Africa and you'll find white kids who spend all day running around with black friends with the whole group speaking fluent Zulu. They've grown up there and their families have been there for generations.

Re: Tesla's Musk Paid at Least $593M in Income Taxes in 2016

#15

Post by kolbe »

marricks wrote: post #11
submeta wrote: post #7

On the other hand this: "Elon Musk's growing empire is fueled by $4.9 billion in government subsidies" http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-hy-musk-subsidies-2015...

Sounds like money better spent to me than the 5 trillion dollars in global fossil fuel subsidies in 2015, or 500 billion just in the US[1] That 5 billion number for Musk I think is a grand total of all subsidies, spanning all time. [1] http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X16...

I don't have to click any like to know that the US did not spend $5t on fossil fuel subsidies. I'm pretty sure the US only spent like $5t total in 2015, and most of that is in medicare and social security.

Re: Tesla's Musk Paid at Least $593M in Income Taxes in 2016

#16

Post by [deleted] »

kolbe wrote: post #15
marricks wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds like money better spent to me than the 5 trillion dollars in global fossil fuel subsidies in 2015, or 500 billion just in the US[1] That 5 billion number for Musk I think is a grand total of all subsidies, spanning all time. [1] http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X16...

I don't have to click any like to know that the US did not spend $5t on fossil fuel subsidies. I'm pretty sure the US only spent like $5t total in 2015, and most of that is in medicare and social security.

[deleted]

Re: Tesla's Musk Paid at Least $593M in Income Taxes in 2016

#17

Post by gpetukhov »

kolbe wrote: post #15
marricks wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds like money better spent to me than the 5 trillion dollars in global fossil fuel subsidies in 2015, or 500 billion just in the US[1] That 5 billion number for Musk I think is a grand total of all subsidies, spanning all time. [1] http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X16...

I don't have to click any like to know that the US did not spend $5t on fossil fuel subsidies. I'm pretty sure the US only spent like $5t total in 2015, and most of that is in medicare and social security.

"GLOBAL fossil fuel subsidies"

Re: Tesla's Musk Paid at Least $593M in Income Taxes in 2016

#18

Post by kbenson »

submeta wrote: post #7

On the other hand this: "Elon Musk's growing empire is fueled by $4.9 billion in government subsidies" http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-hy-musk-subsidies-2015...

I'm not sure in what other case it's considered appropriate to lump all the subsidies together in a total just because one person happens to be involved in each. On a case by case basis, each company is fairly large, and possibly not even unusual in the amount of subsidies it gets. Large companies often get lots of subsidies, because they target them, strategically. In this respect, Tesla is no different than GM or Ford, SpaceX is no different than Boeing, and Solar City is no different than General Electric. Each of those non-musk companies were in the top five of total Federal, State and local subsidies recently[1].

Calling out Musk's companies as exceptional in this regard makes for a nice narrative, but isn't necessarily supported by the facts.

1: https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2015/03/17/t...

Re: Tesla's Musk Paid at Least $593M in Income Taxes in 2016

#19

Post by taway_1212 »

marricks wrote: post #11
submeta wrote: post #7

On the other hand this: "Elon Musk's growing empire is fueled by $4.9 billion in government subsidies" http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-hy-musk-subsidies-2015...

Sounds like money better spent to me than the 5 trillion dollars in global fossil fuel subsidies in 2015, or 500 billion just in the US[1] That 5 billion number for Musk I think is a grand total of all subsidies, spanning all time. [1] http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X16...

The "subsidies" that your link talks about seem to be mostly about externalities. Ignoring for a second that it seems extremely hand-wavey, the biggest "subsidy" is "46%, broader vehicle externalities", which would apply to Tesla as well?

Re: Tesla's Musk Paid at Least $593M in Income Taxes in 2016

#20

Post by r_smart »

submeta wrote: post #14

I wonder how much the founders of Google paid. Or the CEO of Apple. Or Uber's founder. Or for instance Mr Trump.

It really depends on the year. The people who top income tax payments one year will generally not be anywhere near it on subsequent years because they don't draw a steady income, but instead cash out periodically. So while none of the people you've listed are likely to be in this years top earners, at some point in the years prior, or in the years to come, you'll likely see their names pop up. And when they do, they'll have paid some massive amount of money in taxes.
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