Tax payments--Who is worse: Trumpstore or Amazon?

Trump's Retail Website Only Pays Sales Taxes In 2 States. Amazon Pays Taxes In 45.

Mary Papenfuss,HuffPost 22 hours ago

• 
  

President Donald Trump has railed against Amazon, falsely claiming the company

President Donald Trump has railed against Amazon, falsely claiming the company fails to pay state and local sales taxes on online shipments. But it turns out the Trump Organization retail website collects sales taxes only on goods shipped to two states — while Amazon collects sales taxes in 45 states.

The TrumpStore.com website sells Trump-labeled glassware, baseball caps, luggage tags, spa slippers and key chains, among several other items. It collects sales tax only on orders shipped to buyers in Florida and Louisiana, according to the company’s own website, The Wall Street Journal was the first to point out on Friday.

TrumpStore.com, which touts itself as the “official retail website of the The Trump Organization,” doesn’t even pay sales taxes on its online shipments in New York, according to the information on its site. Its physical store and headquarters are located in the Trump Tower in Manhattan.

Trump, who maintains his ownership of the Trump Organization even while president, has been slamming Amazon on Twitter for dodging sales taxes. He has called it a “no-tax” company and has blasted Amazon for paying “little or no taxes to state & local governments.”

According to regulatory filings, Amazon paid a combined total of $412 million in federal, state, local and foreign taxes last year. In 2015, it paid $273 million. Amazon currently charges consumers sales taxes in all 45 states where such taxes exist, plus Washington, D.C. All states except Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire and Oregon collect sales tax.

Amazon doesn’t have to pay all those taxes. A 1992 Supreme Court ruling effectively restricts states from forcing online retailers to pay state and local sales taxes if the company has no physical presence or employees in the state.

Amazon reportedly also supports legislation that would require all online retail operations — such as TrumpStore.com — to pay local taxes so companies operate on a level competitive playing field.

It’s impossible to know what state and local taxes the TrumpStore has paid because it’s a private company and Trump has not released any tax information.

“Trumpstore.com has always, and will continue to collect, report, and remit sales taxes in jurisdictions where it has an obligation to do so,” a spokeswoman told The Wall Street Journal.

A “terms and conditions” section of Trump’s online store informs consumers that they’re responsible for paying any applicable tax on merchandise they purchase.

TrumpStore.com could soon be forced to catch up to Amazon on state sales taxes, thanks to the president. The Trump administration last month filed a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court urging it to allow states to require that online retailers collect and pay sales taxes even where they have no physical presence.

Video: Are the President's Claims About Amazon True?

For more news videos visit Yahoo View.

• This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
• Above is from:  https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-apos-retail-website-only-031557195.html

Motley Fool

Trump Is Right. Amazon Is a Master of Tax Avoidance

Jeremy Bowman, The Motley Fool,Motley Fool 12 hours ago

• 
  
Email

Image source: Getty Images.

The sales tax game

Laws are often slow to evolve to respond to technological advances. Municipalities continue to struggle with "sharing economy" companies like Airbnb and Uber, and cryptocurrencies have similarly been a challenge for regulators.

In its rise to retail dominance, Amazon also exploited this regulatory delay. In the pre-internet era, sales taxes, which are imposed by states and municipalities, were only assessed if a retailer had a physical presence inside that domain. For most of its history, Amazon avoided charging sales tax on most of its customers by shipping goods from the few low-population states where it had warehouses. That strategy gave Amazon an unfair advantage and deprived states and municipalities of revenue they would have normally collected. The National Bureau of Economic Research estimated that Amazon's sales fell by nearly 10% when that tax advantage disappeared.

When that strategy no longer became tenable, and as Amazon wanted to add more warehouses in more states to support its growing Prime two-day delivery program, the company often negotiated to get the taxes delayed, deferred, or reduced as a condition of collecting them. Even today, Amazon's third-party sellers, a significant portion of its business, often don't collect sales taxes, and Amazon itself doesn't always collect local sales taxes.

The HQ2 bonanza

Companies often pit states against each other in order to get the best tax incentive package available, but Amazon took this tax avoidance strategy to a new level with its search for a second headquarters. The company solicited bids from cities and regions interested in hosting its second headquarters, promising $5 billion in investment and 50,000 new jobs over the next decade. Amazon received over 200 bids with offers as lucrative as $7 billion in tax incentives from Newark, and Chicago offered to let Amazon keep over $1 billion in income taxes that would normally go to the state. Again, this method is not unique. Foxconn just squeezed billions of dollars in incentives out of Wisconsin for locating a new plant there, but Amazon's size gives it undue sway in easing its tax burdens and tilting the playing field. Its strategy with the Post Office has been similar, as it's scored perks like Sunday delivery and lower rates that would not be available to a smaller company.

The long-term strategy

Throughout its history, Amazon has consistently reported minimal profits, meaning it has paid very little in taxes since taxes are assessed based on profits. While that strategy is generally seen as sacrificing profits for market share and long-term competitive advantages, it's also a way of avoiding taxes, especially compared to its rivals, who pay some of the highest tax rates in business. Between 2008 and September 2017, for example, Walmart (NYSE: WMT) paid $64 billion in income tax, compared to just $1.4 billion for Amazon, even though Amazon has been the more valuable company for several years now. 

Avoiding taxes is standard practice for businesses, but few companies have benefited from exploiting the system more than Amazon, and those strategies have given the e-commerce leader a decided advantage over its heavily taxed retail rivals.

There's no question that Amazon has weighed on the profit growth of its retail peers. By avoiding its own taxes and lowering industry profits, the company is reducing the broader retail corporate tax base. It's not surprising that such an issue would attract government attention.

• 
  

John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Jeremy Bowman owns shares of Apple. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Amazon and Apple. The Motley Fool has the following options: long January 2020 $150 calls on Apple and short January 2020 $155 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Above is from:  https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/trump-amazon-master-tax-avoidance-131600217.html

Will We Stop Trump Before It’s Too Late?

SundayReview | Opinion

Will We Stop Trump
Before It’s Too Late?

Fascism poses a more serious threat now than
at any time since the end of World War II.

By MADELEINE ALBRIGHTAPRIL 6, 2018

• 
  

On April 28, 1945 — 73 years ago — Italians hung the corpse of their former dictator Benito Mussolini upside down next to a gas station in Milan. Two days later, Adolf Hitler committed suicide in his bunker beneath the streets of war-ravaged Berlin. Fascism, it appeared, was dead.

To guard against a recurrence, the survivors of war and the Holocaust joined forces to create the United Nations, forge global financial institutions and — through the Universal Declaration of Human Rights — strengthen the rule of law. In 1989, the Berlin Wall came down and the honor roll of elected governments swelled not only in Central Europe, but also Latin America, Africa and Asia. Almost everywhere, it seemed, dictators were out and democrats were in. Freedom was ascendant.

Today, we are in a new era, testing whether the democratic banner can remain aloft amid terrorism, sectarian conflicts, vulnerable borders, rogue social media and the cynical schemes of ambitious men. The answer is not self-evident. We may be encouraged that most people in most countries still want to live freely and in peace, but there is no ignoring the storm clouds that have gathered. In fact, fascism — and the tendencies that lead toward fascism — pose a more serious threat now than at any time since the end of World War II.

[Get more of the biggest debates of the day right in your inbox by signing up for the Opinion newsletter.]

Warning signs include the relentless grab for more authority by governing parties in Hungary, the Philippines, Poland and Turkey — all United States allies. The raw anger that feeds fascism is evident across the Atlantic in the growth of nativist movements opposed to the idea of a united Europe, including in Germany, where the right-wing Alternative für Deutschland has emerged as the principal opposition party. The danger of despotism is on display in the Russia of Vladimir Putin — invader of Ukraine, meddler in foreign democracies, accused political assassin, brazen liar and proud son of the K.G.B. Putin has just been re-elected to a new six-year term, while in Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, a ruthless ideologue, is poised to triumph in sham balloting next month. In China, Xi Jinping has persuaded a docile National People’s Congress to lift the constitutional limit on his tenure in power.

Continue reading the main story

Recent Comments

M.L.Johnson

11 hours ago

And if Trump proves to be effective in slowing or even stopping NK's or Iran's nuke program, or perhaps succeeds in Israeli/Palestinian...

lizzygirl168

11 hours ago

Donald Trump's narcissistic personality puts us at great risk. the denigration of millions of Americans can backfire with a narcissist. He...

HMG0313

11 hours ago

When Fascism comes to America's shores it will be draped in the American Flag and carrying a cross.I fear that history is on the brink of...

• See All Comments

ADVERTISEMENT

Continue reading the main story

Around the Mediterranean, the once bright promise of the Arab Spring has been betrayed by autocratic leaders, such as Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt (also just re-elected), who use security to justify the jailing of reporters and political opponents. Thanks to allies in Moscow and Tehran, the tyrant Bashar al-Assad retains his stranglehold over much of Syria. In Africa, the presidents who serve longest are often the most corrupt, multiplying the harm they inflict with each passing year. Meanwhile, the possibility that fascism will be accorded a fresh chance to strut around the world stage is enhanced by the volatile presidency of Donald Trump.

If freedom is to prevail over the many challenges to it, American leadership is urgently required. This was among the indelible lessons of the 20th century. But by what he has said, done and failed to do, Mr. Trump has steadily diminished America’s positive clout in global councils.

Newsletter Sign Up

Continue reading the main story

Sign Up for the Opinion Today Newsletter

Every weekday, get thought-provoking commentary from Op-Ed columnists, the Times editorial board and contributing writers from around the world.

You agree to receive occasional updates and special offers for The New York Times's products and services.

• See Sample
• Privacy Policy
• Opt out or contact us anytime

[To read more about the threat of authoritarianism around the world, read Roger Cohen on Eastern Europe.]

Instead of mobilizing international coalitions to take on world problems, he touts the doctrine of “every nation for itself” and has led America into isolated positions on trade, climate change and Middle East peace. Instead of engaging in creative diplomacy, he has insulted United States neighbors and allies, walked away from key international agreements, mocked multilateral organizations and stripped the State Department of its resources and role. Instead of standing up for the values of a free society, Mr. Trump, with his oft-vented scorn for democracy’s building blocks, has strengthened the hands of dictators. No longer need they fear United States criticism regarding human rights or civil liberties. On the contrary, they can and do point to Mr. Trump’s own words to justify their repressive actions.

At one time or another, Mr. Trump has attacked the judiciary, ridiculed the media, defended torture, condoned police brutality, urged supporters to rough up hecklers and — jokingly or not — equated mere policy disagreements with treason. He tried to undermine faith in America’s electoral process through a bogus advisory commission on voter integrity. He routinely vilifies federal law enforcement institutions. He libels immigrants and the countries from which they come. His words are so often at odds with the truth that they can appear ignorant, yet are in fact calculated to exacerbate religious, social and racial divisions. Overseas, rather than stand up to bullies, Mr. Trump appears to like bullies, and they are delighted to have him represent the American brand. If one were to draft a script chronicling fascism’s resurrection, the abdication of America’s moral leadership would make a credible first scene.

Equally alarming is the chance that Mr. Trump will set in motion events that neither he nor anyone else can control. His policy toward North Korea changes by the day and might quickly return to saber-rattling should Pyongyang prove stubborn before or during talks. His threat to withdraw from the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement could unravel a pact that has made the world safer and could undermine America’s reputation for trustworthiness at a critical moment. His support of protectionist tariffs invites retaliation from major trading partners — creating unnecessary conflicts and putting at risk millions of export-dependent jobs. The recent purge of his national security team raises new questions about the quality of advice he will receive. John Bolton starts work in the White House on Monday.

What is to be done? First, defend the truth. A free press, for example, is not the enemy of the American people; it is the protector of the American people. Second, we must reinforce the principle that no one, not even the president, is above the law. Third, we should each do our part to energize the democratic process by registering new voters, listening respectfully to those with whom we disagree, knocking on doors for favored candidates, and ignoring the cynical counsel: “There’s nothing to be done.”

I’m 80 years old, but I can still be inspired when I see young people coming together to demand the right to study without having to wear a flak jacket.

We should also reflect on the definition of greatness. Can a nation merit that label by aligning itself with dictators and autocrats, ignoring human rights, declaring open season on the environment, and disdaining the use of diplomacy at a time when virtually every serious problem requires international cooperation?

To me, greatness goes a little deeper than how much marble we put in our hotel lobbies and whether we have a Soviet-style military parade. America at its best is a place where people from a multitude of backgrounds work together to safeguard the rights and enrich the lives of all. That’s the example we have always aspired to set and the model people around the world hunger to see. And no politician, not even one in the Oval Office, should be allowed to tarnish that dream.

Madeleine Albright, the author of “Fascism: A Warning,” served as United States secretary of state from 1997 to 2001.

Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook and Twitter (@NYTopinion), and sign up for the Opinion Today newsletter.

Above is from:  https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/06/opinion/sunday/trump-fascism-madeleine-albright.html