Amazon will pay $0 in taxes on $11,200,000,000 in profit for 2018
Kristin Myers5 hours ago
While some people have received some surprise tax bills when filing their returns, corporations continue to avoid paying tax thanks to a cocktail of tax credits, loopholes, and exemptions.
According to a report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), Amazon (AMZN) will pay nothing in federal income taxes for the second year in a row.
Thanks to the new Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), Amazons federal tax responsibility is 21% (down from 35% in previous years). But with the help of tax breaks, according to corporate filings, Amazon wont be paying a dime to Uncle Sam despite posting more than $11.2 billion in profits in 2018.
How is that possible?
Its hard to know exactly what theyre doing, said Steve Wamhoff, ITEPs Director of Federal Tax Policy. In their public documents they dont lay out their tax strategy. So its unclear exactly which breaks [the company is taking advantage of]. They vaguely say tax credits. One could think of many different ways a corporation could do this, like the depreciation breaks which were expanded under TCJA.
Its hard to tell
Though Amazon might have taken advantage of new breaks and loopholes available under TCJA, this isnt the first year that Amazon has avoided paying federal tax. The company reported $5.6 billion in U.S. profits in 2017 and paid $0 last year as well.
"Amazon pays all the taxes we are required to pay in the U.S. and every country where we operate, including paying $2.6 billion in corporate tax and reporting $3.4 billion in tax expense over the last three years," an Amazon spokesperson said in a statement.
According to Wamhoff, the companys apparently nonexistent tax bill highlights that there have always been issues with corporate tax liability.
The thing we would need to know is would they have had positive corporate income tax liability were it not for TCJA? Wamhoff asked. Maybe. Its hard to tell.
Revelations about Amazons tax liability come despite President Trumps very public criticisms of Amazon and Bezos for not paying enough tax. The president had promised his new tax law would end special interest breaks and close loopholes, but its clear that isnt the case, says Wamhoff.
This is another situation where the rhetoric from President Trump is completely divorced from what he does and what his policies do, explained Wamhoff. The part about cutting corporate tax rate was true. And they eliminated some corporate tax rates but not all.
He added: The corporate tax revenue was a big loser. We arent going to see corporations suddenly paying more. We see that in the case of Amazon.
Declining tax revenue has only widened deficits, as national debt has ballooned up and over $22 trillion.
Amazon not alone
TCJA had been criticized in large part due to the benefits it provided the wealthiest Americans and big corporations. Wamhoff says its ironic that the corporate tax rate was slashed to 21% (from its previous 35%) because the effective corporate tax rate under previous tax law was 21%, after accounting for tax breaks and loopholes.
Therefore, Wamhoff says, well likely see the effective tax rate fall even lower.
But if anyone thinks that Amazon is alone, they would be wrong. Last week, Netflix also did not pay American federal or state income taxes according to a separate ITEP report, despite posting record profits. Netflix has disputed those findings, while ITEP claims that the $131 million paid by Netflix is taxes on foreign income.
And historically Wamhoff says, this story is nothing new. Several corporations have avoided paying federal income tax throughout the years, he says.
These companies have been consistently profitable, he explained. And they should really be paying taxes.
I did write to my Republican Congressional representative. He ignored me and was then replaced by a Democrat in the last election. Both of my Senators voted against this mess. None of my current reps were involved in writing these loopholes into the tax code either.
I did write to my Republican Congressional representative. He ignored me and was then replaced by a Democrat in the last election. Both of my Senators voted against this mess. None of my current reps were involved in writing these loopholes into the tax code either.
How about yours?
All I know is PowerStroker hates Somalia, yet elected a Somalian congresswoman...
I give up trying to figure this guy out... All I know is I hardly ever use Amazon and I can't figure out how they got so big in the first place!
__________________
What is to give light must endure burning -- Viktor Frankl
I did write to my Republican Congressional representative. He ignored me and was then replaced by a Democrat in the last election. Both of my Senators voted against this mess. None of my current reps were involved in writing these loopholes into the tax code either.
How about yours?
All I know is I hardly ever use Amazon and I can't figure out how they got so big in the first place!
The art of good business practice, is being a good middleman....
__________________
"Only an alert & knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial & military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods & goals, so that security & liberty may prosper together". Dwight D.Eisenhower.
Nancy will fix everything folks ! She has the answers, & will deliver results.
Nancy, 2020...
__________________
"Only an alert & knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial & military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods & goals, so that security & liberty may prosper together". Dwight D.Eisenhower.
I did write to my Republican Congressional representative. He ignored me and was then replaced by a Democrat in the last election. Both of my Senators voted against this mess. None of my current reps were involved in writing these loopholes into the tax code either.
How about yours?
All I know is PowerStroker hates Somalia, yet elected a Somalian congresswoman...
I give up trying to figure this guy out... All I know is I hardly ever use Amazon and I can't figure out how they got so big in the first place!
Amazon was the ground break for one stop shopping over the internet...They LED the way and now are the biggest online retailer in the world...
That is how they got so big...
@PowerStroker
Comparing a corporation using offsets to reduce a single year tax liability...is total stupidity...
Verizon did this same thing in 2012 under Obama there was no outrage...
Look at the taxes of a corporation across 10 years...then you will get a more accurate picture...
to zero in on 2018 and claim they pay nothing is just ignorance...
Oh great, Democrats want to run another empty suit for President!
Sorry PowerStroker but AOC does not meet the minimum age requirements to run for President! There is a reason you have to be at least 35 years old to run for President and that reason is exactly what we see in AOC - just some kid who still doesnt understand reality.
But nice try! LOL!
__________________
What is to give light must endure burning -- Viktor Frankl
I sense a real lack of interest in having Amazon and other multibillion dollar corporations pay any taxes at all. All while we add more than a trillion dollars ANNUALLY to the national debt.
Pretty sure there was a similar pattern right before the great depression, just not this severe.
-- Edited by PowerStroker on Sunday 17th of February 2019 05:20:55 PM
I realize you're measuring stick for what makes America great is based more on reducing/eliminating any affirmative action policies than any macroeconomic policies whatsoever.
I actually think that the price of fuel is higher than what's posted for over-there in Europe. It certainly is for 9ctane, rest assured...It's more like $02:50 per liter in the UK for 98, which would make it closer to the $10:00 per US-of-A gallon mark. No shyte.
Not that it matters, but lately 98 has been about $01.58 per liter here in Oz. ( The price came down once the French protests started LOL ). And this makes it around $06:15 per US-of-A gallon...
__________________
"Only an alert & knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial & military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods & goals, so that security & liberty may prosper together". Dwight D.Eisenhower.
So you actually believe the offsets should remain in place while lowering the corporate rate to the point where the effective tax rate for the most profitable corporations ends up being zero, or even a NEGATIVE number? All while we add more than a trillion bucks to the debt annually to accomplish this.
Wow! Between the Nuffans of the world falling on every sword they possibly can for the robber barrons, and the Rexes and Shawnees who let them gouge everyone (including themselves) in exchange for relief from affirmative action policies and other racial/social grievences, that's a hell of a party you guys have.
Don't those countries have single payer healthcare?
I wouldn't mind higher taxes instead of paying insurance premiums to for profit health insurance companies.
So you actually believe the offsets should remain in place while lowering the corporate rate to the point where the effective tax rate for the most profitable corporations ends up being zero, or even a NEGATIVE number? All while we add more than a trillion bucks to the debt annually to accomplish this.
Wow! Between the Nuffans of the world falling on every sword they possibly can for the robber barrons, and the Rexes and Shawnees who let them gouge everyone (including themselves) in exchange for relief from affirmative action policies and other racial/social grievences, that's a hell of a party you guys have.
Don't those countries have single payer healthcare?
I wouldn't mind higher taxes instead of paying insurance premiums to for profit health insurance companies.
It seems that anyone with a bank-loan better pay-it-out ASAP, or you'll lose everything once the banks decide to cash-in-on-their-loans...
You need to be taking at least 1 x Calcium & 1 x Magnesium supplementary tablet a day. A multi-vitamin tablet is only just good enough, if you want to prolong a healthier life from the effects of the on-going fall-out from Japan & its nuke crisis. This should also give you more time for your politicians to pull-their-finger-out & supply its citizens with decent health cover.
__________________
"Only an alert & knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial & military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods & goals, so that security & liberty may prosper together". Dwight D.Eisenhower.
So you actually believe the offsets should remain in place while lowering the corporate rate to the point where the effective tax rate for the most profitable corporations ends up being zero, or even a NEGATIVE number? All while we add more than a trillion bucks to the debt annually to accomplish this.
Wow! Between the Nuffans of the world falling on every sword they possibly can for the robber barrons, and the Rexes and Shawnees who let them gouge everyone (including themselves) in exchange for relief from affirmative action policies and other racial/social grievences, that's a hell of a party you guys have.
Don't those countries have single payer healthcare?
I wouldn't mind higher taxes instead of paying insurance premiums to for profit health insurance companies.
No they have universal healthcare...and you are free to move there if you think that is a better way to approach it...
Amazon can establish enough offsets to do this annually nor could Verizon...Verizon did it one single year...just as Amazon is able to for one single year...
You want to claim sky is falling...while ignoring the amount of investment Amazon makes in the communities where they exist...
or Verizon increasing network bandwidth in areas not overly profitable for them...
THERE ARE TRADE OFFS...
AND those trade off make sense...
sorry it is over your head...but again not my problem you are too ignorant to understand...
Amazon can establish enough offsets to do this annually nor could Verizon...Verizon did it one single year...just as Amazon is able to for one single year...
From the article I posted
"Though Amazon might have taken advantage of new breaks and loopholes available under TCJA, this isnt the first year that Amazon has avoided paying federal tax. The company reported $5.6 billion in U.S. profits in 2017 and paid $0 last year as well."
Amazon will pay $0 in taxes on $11,200,000,000 in profit for 2018
Kristin Myers5 hours ago
While some people have received some surprise tax bills when filing their returns, corporations continue to avoid paying tax thanks to a cocktail of tax credits, loopholes, and exemptions.
According to a report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), Amazon (AMZN) will pay nothing in federal income taxes for the second year in a row.
Thanks to the new Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), Amazons federal tax responsibility is 21% (down from 35% in previous years). But with the help of tax breaks, according to corporate filings, Amazon wont be paying a dime to Uncle Sam despite posting more than $11.2 billion in profits in 2018.
How is that possible?
Its hard to know exactly what theyre doing, said Steve Wamhoff, ITEPs Director of Federal Tax Policy. In their public documents they dont lay out their tax strategy. So its unclear exactly which breaks [the company is taking advantage of]. They vaguely say tax credits. One could think of many different ways a corporation could do this, like the depreciation breaks which were expanded under TCJA.
Its hard to tell
Though Amazon might have taken advantage of new breaks and loopholes available under TCJA, this isnt the first year that Amazon has avoided paying federal tax. The company reported $5.6 billion in U.S. profits in 2017 and paid $0 last year as well.
"Amazon pays all the taxes we are required to pay in the U.S. and every country where we operate, including paying $2.6 billion in corporate tax and reporting $3.4 billion in tax expense over the last three years," an Amazon spokesperson said in a statement.
According to Wamhoff, the companys apparently nonexistent tax bill highlights that there have always been issues with corporate tax liability.
The thing we would need to know is would they have had positive corporate income tax liability were it not for TCJA? Wamhoff asked. Maybe. Its hard to tell.
Revelations about Amazons tax liability come despite President Trumps very public criticisms of Amazon and Bezos for not paying enough tax. The president had promised his new tax law would end special interest breaks and close loopholes, but its clear that isnt the case, says Wamhoff.
This is another situation where the rhetoric from President Trump is completely divorced from what he does and what his policies do, explained Wamhoff. The part about cutting corporate tax rate was true. And they eliminated some corporate tax rates but not all.
He added: The corporate tax revenue was a big loser. We arent going to see corporations suddenly paying more. We see that in the case of Amazon.
Declining tax revenue has only widened deficits, as national debt has ballooned up and over $22 trillion.
Amazon not alone
TCJA had been criticized in large part due to the benefits it provided the wealthiest Americans and big corporations. Wamhoff says its ironic that the corporate tax rate was slashed to 21% (from its previous 35%) because the effective corporate tax rate under previous tax law was 21%, after accounting for tax breaks and loopholes.
Therefore, Wamhoff says, well likely see the effective tax rate fall even lower.
But if anyone thinks that Amazon is alone, they would be wrong. Last week, Netflix also did not pay American federal or state income taxes according to a separate ITEP report, despite posting record profits. Netflix has disputed those findings, while ITEP claims that the $131 million paid by Netflix is taxes on foreign income.
And historically Wamhoff says, this story is nothing new. Several corporations have avoided paying federal income tax throughout the years, he says.
These companies have been consistently profitable, he explained. And they should really be paying taxes.
As stated look at your chart provided...it is why you have to look at corporations over a 10 years stretch...
2014 they paid an effective tax rate of 91% but you want to turn a complete blind eye to that...
but you repeated listen to people claim they PAY ZERO...
they offset their liability through community investment...
Verizon was given huge tax subsidies to increase network infrastructure in areas that were not exactly ideal for them...
Where the return on investment was very low...this provides services to areas that would not be covered and would be a long time in getting coverage as it is a low population fringe area...
until you truly understand why an offset is allowed you should really shut the fuck up...Or is the offset OKAY when your democrat Obama allows for it...but not when Trump does...
They paid zero in 2017 and apparently they were able to again in 2018 due to the rate dropping 14%...
yet they paid over 90% in 2014...
YOU want to bitch about the rate dropping to 21% that is what needed to happen...that is why the FICA surplus is already a surplus again...
that is why the GDP is above 3% again and not stagnated around 1%...
US tax code allows money-losing companies to reduce their future taxable income.
Amazon(AMZN) piled up billions of dollars in losses over its two-decade history. It posted $3 billion worth of losses during its first eight years as a public company. It swung between profit and loss since 2003. Its most recent annual loss was $241 million in 2014.
Amazon's total earnings have easily topped its losses many times over. But some of Amazon's earnings came from sales outside the United States, on which Amazon paid either lower or no US taxes. Other earnings were offset by Amazon's investments.
The left does not want this part of the story told...
The left does not want the public to realize that over a decade ago when all hell broke loose in the economy corporations like Amazon took huge losses...
and those losses are tax deductible...AND SHOULD BE....
SOLID corporations also have the capital to weather such a storm in the economy and continue to pay their employees...
too many shut down and caused a ripple effect by layoff thousands of US workers...so yes the ones who stay open should be able to offset those loses to future earnings which is why Amazon has a net zero tax in 2017 and 2018...
YES the 14% drop in the tax rate allowed Amazon to do it more than a single year...
That is still perfectly LEGAL and SHOULD BE....
As a democrat YOU SOUND JUST LIKE THE MAFIA....
economy crashed?...fuck you pay me...
business is bad?...fuck you pay me...
took some losses because of expansion?...fuck you pay me...
In 8 years of Obama, I have yet to have anybody come to my door collecting guns.
As far as taxes, I am prepared for them to go up if services go up ie: single payer healthcare.
I hope they do get us there. If they succeed, and you feel your head is about to explode, fear not. The free market libertarian paradise of Somalia will accept you with open arms.
In 8 years of Obama, I have yet to have anybody come to my door collecting guns.
As far as taxes, I am prepared for them to go up if services go up ie: single payer healthcare.
I hope they do get us there. If they succeed, and you feel your head is about to explode, fear not. The free market libertarian paradise of Somalia will accept you with open arms.
PowerStroker, didn't your district already elect a Somalian refugee?
That is great news for Nuffan because now he doesn't have as far to travel if he wants to visit Somalia!
Talk like the stuff coming out of AOC and PowerStroker is going to ensure a victory for Republicans in 2020 and beyond!
__________________
What is to give light must endure burning -- Viktor Frankl
No, my district got Dean Phillips, which is an enormous improvement!
You know, if I go too much against the grain here, I could always just retire...
Oh wait, poor Rastus would get stuck as pivot man in your Republican circle jerk, I can't do that to him.
In 8 years of Obama, I have yet to have anybody come to my door collecting guns.
As far as taxes, I am prepared for them to go up if services go up ie: single payer healthcare.
I hope they do get us there. If they succeed, and you feel your head is about to explode, fear not. The free market libertarian paradise of Somalia will accept you with open arms.
Democrats lobby and campaign on the gun issue everytime..
I really do not care what they say they will do...I will never surrender my weapons ANY OF THEM...
I have 6 more years...
Then they can do what they want with the taxes as I will be living on my retirement then...
but as long as I am earning...I will not pay more than 25%...
if my effective goes higher than that I will retire early...
No, my district got Dean Phillips, which is an enormous improvement!
Okay so maybe it wasn't your district, since I don't even really know where you are... But it is true that a district representing your state did in fact elect a Somalian into congress, right?
It is also true that this same district has become a hot-spot of sorts for Somalian immigration, right?
If these things I am saying are not true, please let me know! Also, I am VERY interested in knowing how someone like you - who does not care for Somalia, feels about a bunch of Somalian's setting up camp in your state? I have been keeping a close eye on it thru the media and have noticed many articles about the crime and problems they have in that district... I am also hearing stories they are not assimilating well and refuse to cooperate with Police during investigations of crimes, some of which call 911 and then clam up when the Police arrive.
Are these stories I am reading in the media Fake News?
-- Edited by SELLC on Monday 18th of February 2019 01:27:45 PM
__________________
What is to give light must endure burning -- Viktor Frankl
I don't know which district got the Somalian rep, it wouldn't surprise me though. I doubt very much that if they are a Democrat that they would try to impose the unregulated shit show going on over there though.
I'm not ready to take a break yet, just offering in case you start to feel your site isn't pure enough and need to do some political cleansing.
I actually wish some more of the DH liberals would have joined us over here... they were even more crazy than you are! You would have loved them for sure!
I still am somewhat amazed at how all the Democrats vanished on that site, maybe they all were paid trolls?
__________________
What is to give light must endure burning -- Viktor Frankl
No, my district got Dean Phillips, which is an enormous improvement!
You know, if I go too much against the grain here, I could always just retire... Oh wait, poor Rastus would get stuck as pivot man in your Republican circle jerk, I can't do that to him.
Thanks PowerStroker !
It appears that Harrison Ford is speaking out about the current ongoing treachery too. There is support !
__________________
"Only an alert & knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial & military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods & goals, so that security & liberty may prosper together". Dwight D.Eisenhower.