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Facebook paid £4,327 corporation tax in the UK in 2014

bbc.co.uk

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Re: Facebook paid £4,327 corporation tax in the UK in 2014

#401

Post by bduerst »

twoodfin wrote: post #364
bduerst wrote: post #340

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This type of tax plan will incentivize wealth aggregation in corporations, while increasing the cost of employees and goods/services. You want companies to spend, to increase economic cash flow and generate jobs, which is why existing corporate taxes are on net income, not revenue or costs.

Why would shareholders want a corporation to aggregate wealth?

Investors want a return, and this new tax plan makes it more expensive to move money out of a corporation, even for regular operational expenses.

Corporate income tax today allows for companies to pay employees and buy goods/services without increased tax cost. It incentivizes cash flow into the economy and job generation by taxing whatever is left over (net income) after doing business.

Re: Facebook paid £4,327 corporation tax in the UK in 2014

#402

Post by bduerst »

jkahn wrote: post #56
TomGullen wrote: post #17

TIL we pay 10-20x more corp tax than Facebook. Sometimes I feel like a fool, but we've always said from day 1 try to do things as honestly as possible which I'm quite proud of, but there really doesn't seem to be much practical upside apart from not being outed and shamed. First world problem I guess, at least we're turning a profit. It is starting to make me a bit bitter though. For example, we've spent a LOT of tim…

You're not a fool, you're just not a multi-national with the ability to legally avoid/minimize tax.

Pretty much. Only once a companies' net income reaches a certain level does it start to become beneficial to play the international tax game.

Re: Facebook paid £4,327 corporation tax in the UK in 2014

#403

Post by ajnin »

bensummers wrote: post #124
ajnin wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

VAT is the most unjust tax there is. People with low income spend it on things like food, clothing, housing, entertainment, that are all subjected to VAT, whereas richer people have access to the stock market, investment, and tax lawyers, and pay relatively less VAT. VAT is effectively a degressive tax, if you leave only VAT then you accept a system where the poor pay for the rich. However this is already the case in…

You don't pay VAT on "essential goods", eg food, clothing, rent, etc. Of course the rules are a bit fool about what is essential, and VAT is still a terribly regressive tax.

It depends on the country I guess, in France you do pay VAT on food (5.5%), clothing (20%), and for rent it depends on what you're renting but for most people you're right that they're probably exempt.

Re: Facebook paid £4,327 corporation tax in the UK in 2014

#404

Post by walshemj »

legitster wrote: post #327
phlo wrote: post #273

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Stories like this make me question if corporate tax even makes sense. However well designed, a tax code with today's complexities is going to have holes. If a savings of even one per mill may mean millions, corporations are going to spend insane amounts of money to hire the best experts to use every last loophole. Why don't we cut down everything to a couple of manageable groups that can be tightened down? I think th…

Someone put it best when they said "corporations may not have a heart, but they don't have a stomach either". Unlike people, corporations do not consume for the sake of consumption, instead they invest in assets. A tax on corporations is directly passed through to employees, customers, investors etc. From what I understand, the actual proposed replacement for the corporate income tax is much simpler: eliminate it and…

Companies make use of education roads and other infrastructure and in the UK not having to provide health benefits.

Re: Facebook paid £4,327 corporation tax in the UK in 2014

#405

Post by [deleted] »

saiya-jin wrote: post #301
catshirt wrote: post #248

Earlier quoted context omitted.

it's misguided to call tax practices like these dishonest because it puts the blame on Facebook, who is operating legally in the system they are provided. the alternative is that they knowingly pay more tax than the law requires of them. which is ridiculous. don't hate the player, as they say...

this is true in scenario where these massive corporations are just passive bystanders, obediently following all new tax laws that come up daily. the reality is, through networks of lobbyists, they put forth laws with loopholes that allow these practices. i am not accusing facebook specifically, any and all multinationals are guilty in a similar way, be it banks, procter&gamble or newest computer fad beyond-startup co…

[deleted]

Re: Facebook paid £4,327 corporation tax in the UK in 2014

#406

Post by SixSigma »

newjersey wrote: post #142
coldtea wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Why not let Apple have what's left? Because other businesses also create products that collect VAT and still pay their taxes. Why should Apple be any different? To promote those that are big enough to avoid taxation to make them even bigger?

Apple pays VAT and all the taxes it is legally obliged to pay. Don't blame Apple. They will pay the least amount they have to pay. Fix the loopholes.

The UK tax office has been trying to fix loopholes.since transfer pricing abuse and offshore trusts started in the 19thC.

Non-dom has taken about 100 years to be scrapped which was creatively spawned by the Vesteys

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/jul/08/non-dom-tax-s...

Re: Facebook paid £4,327 corporation tax in the UK in 2014

#407

Post by SixSigma »

newjersey wrote: post #142
coldtea wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Why not let Apple have what's left? Because other businesses also create products that collect VAT and still pay their taxes. Why should Apple be any different? To promote those that are big enough to avoid taxation to make them even bigger?

Apple pays VAT and all the taxes it is legally obliged to pay. Don't blame Apple. They will pay the least amount they have to pay. Fix the loopholes.

The UK tax office has been trying to fix loopholes.since transfer pricing abuse and offshore trusts started in the 19thC.

Non-dom has taken about 100 years to be scrapped which was creatively spawned by the Vesteys

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/jul/08/non-dom-tax-s...

Re: Facebook paid £4,327 corporation tax in the UK in 2014

#408

Post by caskance »

tptacek wrote: post #394
caskance wrote: post #261

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You could support Lawrence Lessig's presidential campaign.

I think you missed the part of parent comment about "realism".

Lawrence Lessig is a real person and thus my answer satisfies at least one of the criteria given.

Re: Facebook paid £4,327 corporation tax in the UK in 2014

#409

Post by yuliyp »

jos3000 wrote: post #287
phlo wrote: post #273

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Stories like this make me question if corporate tax even makes sense. However well designed, a tax code with today's complexities is going to have holes. If a savings of even one per mill may mean millions, corporations are going to spend insane amounts of money to hire the best experts to use every last loophole. Why don't we cut down everything to a couple of manageable groups that can be tightened down? I think th…

The big problem with this is that, under a simple tax system, if a government wants to increase it's tax revenue it is extremely easy for voters to understand what is happening. Governments prefer to make complicated tax laws because they are easier to spin.

Oh come on. The taxes that 90% of people pay are perfectly clear. The exceptions only affect a very small minority of people (namely those with enough income to make it worth their while to care about exploiting the exceptions).

Re: Facebook paid £4,327 corporation tax in the UK in 2014

#410

Post by funkyy »

e12e wrote: post #400
funkyy wrote: post #272

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Simple 1% revenue tax on companies with revenue of more than $15 million would fix the issue. No other taxes, just revenue one, no tax credits, no refunds. No hiding costs, no going offshore, no creative accounting. One tax on all revenues that will hit your account. This would also help to cut out all the middle man driving prices up and make the logistic chain quite small. Some countries want to experiment with thi…

You're saying I need to divide my $25 million revenue corporation into two?

To go through the pain and cost of doing regular taxing and being on the mercy of tax office? Sure.
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