Wow and they still make money despite paying their fair share. Who would have ever thought.
I always find "fair share" to be an odd argument. Who decides what's a fair share?
That the line is hard to perfectly define does not mean “none is fine”.
Berkshire Hathaway Now Pays 5% of All Corporate Income Taxes in America
21–30 of 183 posts
Re: Berkshire Hathaway Now Pays 5% of All Corporate Income Taxes in America
#22Earlier quoted context omitted.
I always find "fair share" to be an odd argument. Who decides what's a fair share?
Fair means the same playing field, the same rules, the same consistent outcomes from all the corporations subject to these laws and regulations, and not just one of them who does the right thing. Exercizing loopholes is the opposite of fair. It puts those with the best cheating strategies ahead of those who play by the rules. Because you can catch the ref with his back turned doesn't make you a fair player.
Honestly with how it is in America, it feels more akin to slipping the ref a $50 instead of doing it when his back is turned
Re: Berkshire Hathaway Now Pays 5% of All Corporate Income Taxes in America
#23Earlier quoted context omitted.
I always find "fair share" to be an odd argument. Who decides what's a fair share?
Fair means the same playing field, the same rules, the same consistent outcomes from all the corporations subject to these laws and regulations, and not just one of them who does the right thing. Exercizing loopholes is the opposite of fair. It puts those with the best cheating strategies ahead of those who play by the rules. Because you can catch the ref with his back turned doesn't make you a fair player.
Loopholes are the definition of playing by the rules.
Laws are not enacted in spirit, they are drafted, voted on, and enacted in text. What the law says is what matters, not what people assume it wants to achieve.
To claim that complying with the law exactly as it is written is unfair is, quite frankly, undemocratic and an outright rejection of the rule of law.
Re: Berkshire Hathaway Now Pays 5% of All Corporate Income Taxes in America
#24Earlier quoted context omitted.
Fair means the same playing field, the same rules, the same consistent outcomes from all the corporations subject to these laws and regulations, and not just one of them who does the right thing. Exercizing loopholes is the opposite of fair. It puts those with the best cheating strategies ahead of those who play by the rules. Because you can catch the ref with his back turned doesn't make you a fair player.
What is a loophole? Legally avoiding taxes isn't cheating. What you're describing is tax fraud, and that's different from corporations using legal strategies to mitigate their tax burdens.
So is using cheat codes in a game also not cheating? It's part of the game after all.
Re: Berkshire Hathaway Now Pays 5% of All Corporate Income Taxes in America
#25Wow and they still make money despite paying their fair share. Who would have ever thought.
I always find "fair share" to be an odd argument. Who decides what's a fair share?
The bought-and-paid-for legislature and the military-industrial complex that both parties serve ceaselessly and unflinchingly.
Re: Berkshire Hathaway Now Pays 5% of All Corporate Income Taxes in America
#26Earlier quoted context omitted.
What counts as a loophole though? IRA, almost by design is a way to shelter your investments from taxes. Is it a loophole to put your investments in an IRA to avoid taxes? What about when Peter Thiel puts his paypal stock in an IRA, and paid no taxes on his paypal exit?
Can you honestly say when the people were drafting how IRAs would work they were thinking this as an intended use-case?
The rule of law, and the democratic lawmaking process is based on text, not mind reading.
Re: Berkshire Hathaway Now Pays 5% of All Corporate Income Taxes in America
#27It appears that Berkshire Hathaway accounts for ~ 0.002% of income.
Re: Berkshire Hathaway Now Pays 5% of All Corporate Income Taxes in America
#28Earlier quoted context omitted.
It means they're not exercising loopholes and legal sleight of hand to pay less.
Damn, people who pay into their 401Ks are fucking evil.
https://itep.org/55-profitable-corporations-zero-corporate-t...
Some examples:
> Food conglomerate Archer Daniels Midland enjoyed $438 million of U.S. pretax income last year and received a federal tax rebate of $164 million.
> The delivery giant FedEx zeroed out its federal income tax on $1.2 billion of U.S. pretax income in 2020 and received a rebate of $230 million.
> The shoe manufacturer Nike didn’t pay a dime of federal income tax on almost $2.9 billion of U.S. pretax income last year, instead enjoying a $109 million tax rebate.
If you think this is the same as someone putting $7k into a 401k then you are acting in bad faith and we have nothing productive to discuss.
Re: Berkshire Hathaway Now Pays 5% of All Corporate Income Taxes in America
#29Earlier quoted context omitted.
What counts as a loophole though? IRA, almost by design is a way to shelter your investments from taxes. Is it a loophole to put your investments in an IRA to avoid taxes? What about when Peter Thiel puts his paypal stock in an IRA, and paid no taxes on his paypal exit?
Can you honestly say when the people were drafting how IRAs would work they were thinking this as an intended use-case?
"intended use-case" is just more fuzzy language. They probably thought everyone would buy mutual funds, rather than 3X leveraged Nvidia ETFs. Does that mean buying such ETFs (and making bank) mean you're not paying "your fair share"? Or for something more down to earth, what about meme stocks and bitcoin treasury companies, both of which are technically companies, but are definitely not what the authors of the bill had in mind.
Re: Berkshire Hathaway Now Pays 5% of All Corporate Income Taxes in America
#30Earlier quoted context omitted.
It means they're not exercising loopholes and legal sleight of hand to pay less.
What counts as a loophole though? IRA, almost by design is a way to shelter your investments from taxes. Is it a loophole to put your investments in an IRA to avoid taxes? What about when Peter Thiel puts his paypal stock in an IRA, and paid no taxes on his paypal exit?
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