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Sorry, the title is misleading, I took it straight from the beeb article:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-57368247
So it looks like governments have finally decided to try to enforce any for of taxation on the big tech firms.
I know, the likes of google and apple and M$ and Amazon and FB are likely mobilising their legal teams and money hiding experts already.
15% in total, I doubt over the last 10 years combined all the big tech put together and multiplied by 15 have provided 15% tax. I just can’t believe the naivety in thinking they will see anything, probably less than before, and us as consumers will see higher costs or more damaging user agreements.
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nightcraw1er.488: Sorry, the title is misleading, I took it straight from the beeb article:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-57368247
So it looks like governments have finally decided to try to enforce any for of taxation on the big tech firms.
I know, the likes of google and apple and M$ and Amazon and FB are likely mobilising their legal teams and money hiding experts already.
15% in total, I doubt over the last 10 years combined all the big tech put together and multiplied by 15 have provided 15% tax. I just can’t believe the naivety in thinking they will see anything, probably less than before, and us as consumers will see higher costs or more damaging user agreements.
These companies will just move all their financial assets to tax shelters outside the USA and Europe, like the Cayman Islands, Turks & Cacos, or the UAE.
Post edited June 06, 2021 by TheBigCore
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nightcraw1er.488: the likes of google and apple and M$ and Amazon and FB
And EA.
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TheBigCore: These companies will just move all their financial assets to tax shelters outside the USA and Europe, like the Cayman Islands, Turks & Cacos.
A move to a AMD GPU core? (this joke isn't even funny).

On a more serious note, was not a big game publisher (like EA or Activision) Europe finantial adress, some abandoned building?
Post edited June 06, 2021 by Dark_art_
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TheBigCore: These companies will just move all their financial assets to tax shelters outside the USA and Europe, like the Cayman Islands, Turks & Cacos, or the UAE.
they already have in most cases. that is entirely what this hits upon.

unfortunately there will still be continued dodging / corruption etc. especially here in the UK with our ongoing situation.
Post edited June 06, 2021 by Sachys
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TheBigCore: These companies will just move all their financial assets to tax shelters outside the USA and Europe, like the Cayman Islands, Turks & Cacos, or the UAE.
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Sachys: they already have in most cases. that is entirely what this hits upon.n.
They'll just find a way around that, too.
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Sachys: they already have in most cases. that is entirely what this hits upon.n.
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TheBigCore: They'll just find a way around that, too.
You did actually read my post, didn't you?
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TheBigCore: They'll just find a way around that, too.
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Sachys: You did actually read my post, didn't you?
My point is, that no matter what laws they make, there will always be ways to circumvent them.
Zero percent tax rate is too much for these corporations. It should be negative. Let's subsidise them.
Interesting to see whether and how this will affect... anything.

I am not condemning companies, including big companies, trying to minimize the taxes they pay. (Similarly I am not condemning countries trying to maximize the taxes they can gather from companies, that is logical as well.)

After all, we all usually try to cut our expenses, getting as many tax deductions as we can, buying our goods from where we can get them cheapest (with the lowest taxes) etc.

People who live at the eastern border of Finland, tend to go buy cheaper gasoline from Russia, thus evading the very high gasoline tax in Finland.

People living in southern Finland tend to go buy beer and other alcohol in Estonia and bring it to Finland, in order to avoid the high Finnish alcohol tax.

In Finland people can get tax deduction for having to use their own car for trips between home and work (e.g. if there is no good public transportation, or the trip would take more than 3 hours with public transportation, then you are eligible for tax deductions for using your own car for work trips), and I am pretty sure most will claim they have had to drive to work 5 days a week also during the COVID times, even though in reality they may have worked from home most of the time, as the taxman can't reliably check which days the people have been in the office and which not.

So yeah, we "all" do it, so why wouldn't the companies do it?
Post edited June 06, 2021 by timppu
There are plenty of ways you can "tax" corporations, but there either isn't any political or economic desire to do it. Depending on the country, the final product might be taxed directly via added value tax, or passively for employees working for them with paying for pension, healthcare and the like. An important way for the corporations to pay their due would be by taking care of the waste they produce, or having to buy waste points (like carbon points) to force them to reduce their impact.

But, in the end, like most everyone believes, they will find a way to worm out of their financial obligations to their nations and societies. You build a better rifle, they build a better tank.
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timppu: Interesting to see whether and how this will affect... anything.

I am not condemning companies, including big companies, trying to minimize the taxes they pay. (Similarly I am not condemning countries trying to maximize the taxes they can gather from companies, that is logical as well.)

After all, we all usually try to cut our expenses, getting as many tax deductions as we can, buying our goods from where we can get them cheapest (with the lowest taxes) etc.

People who live at the eastern border of Finland, tend to go buy cheaper gasoline from Russia, thus evading the very high gasoline tax in Finland.

People living in southern Finland tend to go buy beer and other alcohol in Estonia and bring it to Finland, in order to avoid the high Finnish alcohol tax.

In Finland people can get tax deduction for having to use their own car for trips between home and work (e.g. if there is no good public transportation, or the trip would take more than 3 hours with public transportation, then you are eligible for tax deductions for using your own car for work trips), and I am pretty sure most will claim they have had to drive to work 5 days a week also during the COVID times, even though in reality they may have worked from home most of the time, as the taxman can't reliably check which days the people have been in the office and which not.

So yeah, we "all" do it, so why wouldn't the companies do it?
It’s about scale. You nipping over the border to Russia to get fuel a bit cheaper (but still taxed), is not the same as the likes of google or Amazon taking 100’s of millions in profit from other countries and not putting anything back. If they want to continue that, then they should be called a charity not a business.
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nightcraw1er.488: If they want to continue that, then they should be called a charity not a business.
don't give them any more ideas!