Business Insider has this article calling Amazon the leader of the Tax Cheat Industry:
Amazon is known throughout the world as one of the most innovative tax cheats anywhere. It makes its profit largely by allowing customers to avoid state sales taxes and sharing the savings. States are now taking steps to crack down on this scam, requiring Internet retailers with any ties to in-state businesses to start collecting taxes on their sales in the state. California took this route this month.
The NYT had an article highlighting Amazon's efforts to fight back to protect its loophole, which includes a plan to place an initiative on California's ballot. In laying out Amazon's argument, the piece includes an unanswered argument from Amazon, that the law places a huge burden on small Internet retailers by requiring them collect taxes in hundreds of different jurisdictions.
The piece should have reminded readers that there are services that will handle the tax collection for smaller businesses for a modest fee. These services are comparable to the payroll companies that small businesses often rely upon to get tax and benefit payments handled correctly.
Amazon has a history of putting out absurd arguments to protect its tax loophole. It had previously argued that it lacked the technical competence to keep track of the different tax provisions in all the jurisdictions where it sold products. This argument was contradicted by the fact that retailers like Wal-Mart and Target seem to have relatively little problem getting tax collections mostly right. Presumably, the programmers at the these traditional brick and mortar retailers are not that much more competent than the crew at Amazon.
Given Amazon's history, the NYT should not present its claims to readers without including a response.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
11 Things the Richest U.S. Households Could Buy (You'll Be Shocked)
From our friends at United for a Fair Economy:
The wealthiest families in the U.S. are sickeningly, obscenely rich, to the tune of $1.37 trillion dollars. And unlike the rest of us, they don’t have outstanding medical bills or student loans, trouble paying credit card debt, or live paycheck to paycheck.
So how much is $1.37 trillion dollars? To demonstrate just how much money this is, here are 11 things that the richest 400 households in the U.S. can buy with their "hard-earned" cash:
The richest 400 households can pay off every student loan for every single student in the entire United States. No more paying for an education, so that you can get a good job so that you can... well, pay off your education.
The richest 400 could pay your rent, and the rent of every single renter in the entire United States for three years.
The richest 400 could pay the mortgages of every house in the whole country for 14 full months.
The richest 400 households can buy every single house that was foreclosed on in 2007 and 2008.
The richest 400 households could pay the annual salaries of 19 million families for one year. So go ahead, take that year-long, family vacation around the world you’ve always dreamed of.
The richest 400 can pay off all credit card debt for every single person in the entire United States. Imagine that! No more credit card debt looming over your shoulders!
The richest 400 households can afford to give a $10,000 bonus to every single worker in the entire country. What would a hardworking person like you do with that extra money?
The richest 400 can afford to buy a new car for every family in the United States. Meanwhile, many of us must ignore the flashing check engine light.
The richest 400 can pay for 3 ½ years worth of gas for every driver in the country.
The richest 400 households can afford to triple the number of teachers in the United States, then give every single one a $30,000 raise. Teachers are being laid off everywhere, their salaries are being cut, and they are suffering. Teacher-to-student ratios in schools are abysmal. But what can we do about it when so much wealth is in the pockets of so few families?
The richest 400 families alone could replace 70% of all money lost in the Great Recession, for everyone! How much money did you, your parents, or grandparents lose in the Great Recession of 2008? 30%, 50% of your portfolio? Not only do the rich still have enough money to fund their wildest dreams, but they can also fund your retirements.
As you can see, the wealthiest families in the U.S. are doing just fine. And with this money has come a great deal of political influence, often in the form of tax breaks and tax loopholes. Their influence on policy has made it easy for the rich to stay rich [and get richer].
To see the full article, go here
The wealthiest families in the U.S. are sickeningly, obscenely rich, to the tune of $1.37 trillion dollars. And unlike the rest of us, they don’t have outstanding medical bills or student loans, trouble paying credit card debt, or live paycheck to paycheck.
So how much is $1.37 trillion dollars? To demonstrate just how much money this is, here are 11 things that the richest 400 households in the U.S. can buy with their "hard-earned" cash:
The richest 400 households can pay off every student loan for every single student in the entire United States. No more paying for an education, so that you can get a good job so that you can... well, pay off your education.
The richest 400 could pay your rent, and the rent of every single renter in the entire United States for three years.
The richest 400 could pay the mortgages of every house in the whole country for 14 full months.
The richest 400 households can buy every single house that was foreclosed on in 2007 and 2008.
The richest 400 households could pay the annual salaries of 19 million families for one year. So go ahead, take that year-long, family vacation around the world you’ve always dreamed of.
The richest 400 can pay off all credit card debt for every single person in the entire United States. Imagine that! No more credit card debt looming over your shoulders!
The richest 400 households can afford to give a $10,000 bonus to every single worker in the entire country. What would a hardworking person like you do with that extra money?
The richest 400 can afford to buy a new car for every family in the United States. Meanwhile, many of us must ignore the flashing check engine light.
The richest 400 can pay for 3 ½ years worth of gas for every driver in the country.
The richest 400 households can afford to triple the number of teachers in the United States, then give every single one a $30,000 raise. Teachers are being laid off everywhere, their salaries are being cut, and they are suffering. Teacher-to-student ratios in schools are abysmal. But what can we do about it when so much wealth is in the pockets of so few families?
The richest 400 families alone could replace 70% of all money lost in the Great Recession, for everyone! How much money did you, your parents, or grandparents lose in the Great Recession of 2008? 30%, 50% of your portfolio? Not only do the rich still have enough money to fund their wildest dreams, but they can also fund your retirements.
As you can see, the wealthiest families in the U.S. are doing just fine. And with this money has come a great deal of political influence, often in the form of tax breaks and tax loopholes. Their influence on policy has made it easy for the rich to stay rich [and get richer].
To see the full article, go here
Monday, July 11, 2011
More Evidence Supporting the Need for a TN Income Tax
This report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Better-Than-Expected State Tax Collections Highlight Importance of Income Taxes, has some great information supporting TFT's work to implement a personal income tax in Tennessee.
Some highlights:
At least 28 states have reported that tax collections for the just-ended fiscal year will exceed the amount expected when their budgets were adopted last spring. In 23 of those states, the improvement is driven by gains in income tax collections—a result of rapid increases in the incomes of wealthy individuals and corporations over the last year. (Aside from North Carolina, the exceptions don’t have a personal or corporate income tax or both.)
On average, in the 28 states with higher-than-expected growth, personal income taxes have grown 9 percent over last year. That jump is more than double the 4.4 percent growth rate that was anticipated when these states’ budgets were enacted. Sales tax growth is only about 1.5 percentage points above the 2.9 percent originally projected.
Increases in corporate profits and rising incomes for individuals and families—especially the wealthy—have fueled the boost in revenues. Personal and corporate income taxes are significantly higher than expected, while sales taxes generally are much closer to targets. These gains in personal or corporate income tax collections led to higher-than-expected revenues than had been forecast when the budgets in at least 23 states were adopted last year.
The Great Recession appears to be following the pattern of recent recessions where the incomes of the wealthy recover well before those of low- and middle-income individuals and families. For example, during the economic expansion that followed the 2001 recession, the average inflation-adjusted income of the bottom 90 percent of households grew just 4 percent while the incomes of the top 1 percent grew more than ten times faster (by 62 percent). Many experts expect a similar pattern now.
To read the full report, go here
Some highlights:
At least 28 states have reported that tax collections for the just-ended fiscal year will exceed the amount expected when their budgets were adopted last spring. In 23 of those states, the improvement is driven by gains in income tax collections—a result of rapid increases in the incomes of wealthy individuals and corporations over the last year. (Aside from North Carolina, the exceptions don’t have a personal or corporate income tax or both.)
On average, in the 28 states with higher-than-expected growth, personal income taxes have grown 9 percent over last year. That jump is more than double the 4.4 percent growth rate that was anticipated when these states’ budgets were enacted. Sales tax growth is only about 1.5 percentage points above the 2.9 percent originally projected.
Increases in corporate profits and rising incomes for individuals and families—especially the wealthy—have fueled the boost in revenues. Personal and corporate income taxes are significantly higher than expected, while sales taxes generally are much closer to targets. These gains in personal or corporate income tax collections led to higher-than-expected revenues than had been forecast when the budgets in at least 23 states were adopted last year.
The Great Recession appears to be following the pattern of recent recessions where the incomes of the wealthy recover well before those of low- and middle-income individuals and families. For example, during the economic expansion that followed the 2001 recession, the average inflation-adjusted income of the bottom 90 percent of households grew just 4 percent while the incomes of the top 1 percent grew more than ten times faster (by 62 percent). Many experts expect a similar pattern now.
To read the full report, go here
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Legislature approval ratings tumble Poll: Fewer than half of Tennesseans view lawmakers favorably
Not surprising, but still glad to see that Tennesseans are getting fed up!
Click here to read the full story in the Tennessean
Support for the state Legislature has plummeted 20 percentage points since January, according to a Vanderbilt University poll, and the cause appears to be controversial votes like the Republican-led fight to remake Tennessee's laws on teachers unions.
Five months ago, state lawmakers were viewed favorably by nearly two-thirds of Tennesseans. Now, not even half say they approve of the job the GOP-controlled Legislature is doing.
The decline suggests the honeymoon period that began when Republicans swept into office last November has ended.
Click here to read the full story in the Tennessean
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Death By Budget Cut
This article from Alternet.org details the devastating real-life impacts of state and local budget cuts. Tennessee's recurring budget shortfalls have been with us even in times of national prosperity, and the underlying cause is our regressive tax structure that maintains wealth disparities and is structurally designed so there is never adequate revenue to fund our vital public structures. That's great for those who think privatization is the solution, but I would much prefer to have the services and benefits we all enjoy from our tax dollars provided by our government that is accountable to us all.
An excerpt:
Politicians, the media and the power elite tell us that state and local government budget shortfalls are the result of lavish compensation packages paid to teachers, police officers and firefighters along with "entitlements" such as Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare. The truth is that the economic crisis, sparked by decades of deregulation and greedy financial firms, caused high levels of unemployment that dramatically reduced state and local tax revenues. Add to that years of tax cuts for the wealthy and decades of corporate tax-dodging, and you've got yourself a budget crisis.
Conservatives clearly intend to exploit budget crises to starve government. And some Democratic politicians are also cutting services to balance their budgets. In their quest to render government incapable of providing for its citizens, conservatives, with the help of their fellow acquiescing Democrats, are exacting an irreversible and deadly toll that has gone largely ignored by the mainstream press. So it is up to us to bring attention to the disastrous consequences austerity has wrought.
To read more: http://www.alternet.org/story/151275/death_by_budget_cut%3A_why_conservatives_and_some_dems_have_blood_on_their_hands
An excerpt:
Politicians, the media and the power elite tell us that state and local government budget shortfalls are the result of lavish compensation packages paid to teachers, police officers and firefighters along with "entitlements" such as Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare. The truth is that the economic crisis, sparked by decades of deregulation and greedy financial firms, caused high levels of unemployment that dramatically reduced state and local tax revenues. Add to that years of tax cuts for the wealthy and decades of corporate tax-dodging, and you've got yourself a budget crisis.
Conservatives clearly intend to exploit budget crises to starve government. And some Democratic politicians are also cutting services to balance their budgets. In their quest to render government incapable of providing for its citizens, conservatives, with the help of their fellow acquiescing Democrats, are exacting an irreversible and deadly toll that has gone largely ignored by the mainstream press. So it is up to us to bring attention to the disastrous consequences austerity has wrought.
To read more: http://www.alternet.org/story/151275/death_by_budget_cut%3A_why_conservatives_and_some_dems_have_blood_on_their_hands
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