In 2025, Meta paid an effective federal tax rate of 3.5% • Hacker News Board

Re: In 2025, Meta paid an effective federal tax rate of 3.5%

#141

Post by randomtoast » Sat, Feb 28, 2026, 1:03 PM UTC

loeg wrote: post #130

randomtoast wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe you are right, but maybe the significant qualifications are on (1) in a way that make it meaningless. There is a reason why large companies have entire departments dedicated to identifying and utilizing every available national and international tax loophole, all while working to maintain a positive public image.

> maybe the significant qualifications are on (1) in a way that make it meaningless. I don't agree with this. Are you willing to suggest any specific qualifications you take issue with, so the rest of us can consider them?

I am by no means an expert in this field, but I do know that in the US, money is the primary source of power. Major tech companies have vast financial resources - so much so that their wealth surpasses the GDP of many countries. It's also clear that lobbying holds tremendous influence in the US. For instance, organizations like the NRA and NSSF wield significant power, which is why strict gun control measures are rarely enacted, regardless of the number of casualties from mass shootings.

1. Money translates to power

2. We know lobbying is highly effective

3. There are numerous national and international tax loopholes

I’m simply connecting these three points. Some might suggest that the government could intervene, but do you really believe Trump would challenge these major corporations while refusing to disclose his own tax returns? Absolutely not. So these companies have the required power, motivation and lack of resistence to make it happen.

Re: In 2025, Meta paid an effective federal tax rate of 3.5%

#142

Post by brynnbee » Sat, Feb 28, 2026, 11:03 PM UTC

kolbe wrote: post #70

brynnbee wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would imagine it's more you're being skeptical of something that is unpopular to be skeptical about. It's like someone saying climate change is impacting our planet, and then asking "source?" in response.

Except he was skeptical about Meta's effective tax rate being 3%. Why are you making up scenarios that aren't real to justify hurting him?

He was asking about the trend of him commenting with "Source?" leading to downvotes on other posts. I was giving an extreme example to represent why that may be happening elsewhere. I agree that in this case with the 3% rate it's likely not applicable.

Re: In 2025, Meta paid an effective federal tax rate of 3.5%

#143

Post by datsci_est_2015 » Sun, Mar 01, 2026, 3:01 PM UTC

akramachamarei wrote: post #128

datsci_est_2015 wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s a fair retort here, though, where the grandparent comment was clearly trying to grandstand in opposition to his perceived enemy tribe, mostly unprovoked. Edit: in other words, it’s a fair interpretation of the comment to be saying “We wouldn’t have to deal with all this misinformation about taxes if there wasn’t some giant liberal conspiracy”, given that they weren’t replying to any specific part of the parent p…

Well, no, that is not a reasonable interpretation at all. For one, the commenter did not proclaim existence of conspiracies, but the existence of conspiracy theories. People mix these up a lot. Secondly, the other interpretation you propose exhibits roughly the same form as "X does A", so it's worth repeating that it does not mean "only X does A" either!

Context matters. Arguments don’t live in a pedantic vacuum.

Re: In 2025, Meta paid an effective federal tax rate of 3.5%

#144

Post by braebo » Wed, Mar 04, 2026, 1:18 PM UTC

hsuduebc2 wrote: post #134

braebo wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unchecked power deteriorates empathy as classes drift further apart — an inevitability of un(der)regulated capitalism driving unprecedented inequality. This accelerates when the billionaire class seizes the levers of power and dismantle entire regulatory bodies like the Epstein class has done with the US government.

I see you are getting down votes. I'm not necessary agreeing with you But I'm curious what is the counter argument here. That it is just not true?

Interesting, I can’t see downvotes in the app Octal I use. I stand by my statement, though it is a generalization to be fair. I’m curious - which points do you disagree with and why?

Re: In 2025, Meta paid an effective federal tax rate of 3.5%

#145

Post by loeg » Sat, Mar 07, 2026, 4:23 PM UTC

randomtoast wrote: post #141

loeg wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> maybe the significant qualifications are on (1) in a way that make it meaningless. I don't agree with this. Are you willing to suggest any specific qualifications you take issue with, so the rest of us can consider them?

I am by no means an expert in this field, but I do know that in the US, money is the primary source of power. Major tech companies have vast financial resources - so much so that their wealth surpasses the GDP of many countries. It's also clear that lobbying holds tremendous influence in the US. For instance, organizations like the NRA and NSSF wield significant power, which is why strict gun control measures are rar…

https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/002/546/187/fb1...

Re: In 2025, Meta paid an effective federal tax rate of 3.5%

#146

Post by philipallstar » Wed, Mar 11, 2026, 5:00 PM UTC

nocoolnametom wrote: post #37

philipallstar wrote: post #6

> Trickle-down economics isn't just a hoax, it's corrosive to democracy. It's a hoax in that it's a straw man that no one advocates for.

Perhaps, but the entire ecosystem of associated buzzwords/ideas is pretty popular in our culture today: "job creator" C-suite executives magically "create" jobs and/or raise pay because their budget for taxes goes down and they just don't know where else to put the cash, thus everyone benefits. Is it a straw man? Sure. Is it the same pablum often delivered by the evening news and politicians? Yes. Is reality a TON mo…

> "job creator" C-suite executives magically "create" jobs and/or raise pay because their budget for taxes goes down and they just don't know where else to put the cash, thus everyone benefits.

The real concept, which is actually true, is business owners and managers and investors have money - whether risking money for a startup, or spending revenue from customers - and that money goes into investing in infrastructure and paying salaries, and paying taxes. Their taxes then pay for the public sector employees' jobs and all other public costs. That hierarchy is why making sure people want spend their time and money in your country, because it pays for everything else.