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0 pointsavianlyric2y ago0 comments

Last I checked the US government taxed US corporations based on profits. One would assume that if US corporations are making less profit due to fines, then they’re also paying less taxes to the U.S. government.

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heavenlyblue2y ago

Break the law to potentially get oversized profits, pay no tax if you are caught breaking the law. That's a perfect business plan.

capableweb2y ago

Generally I don't think you count profits that never happened as "cost to the taxpayer".

What if Facebook spend 2B USD on a product that was supposed to be wildly successful, but it failed big time, does that count as "costing the US tax money" as they never made the profit they could have made?

matsemann2y ago

The point you're missing here is that it's US regulations ("we can look at your customers' data at any time and you can't even notify them") that makes it so that US companies are losing lots of money and customers from the EU. So it's not a company making a wrong bet or so. It's companies being directly hampered by their connection to the US.

capableweb2y ago

> It's companies being directly hampered by their connection to the US.

No, the companies are being hampered by not following local (EU) regulation, so they get fined because of it. Has nothing to do with where the company is from, it might as well have been Indian, Chinese or from South Africa, it has to follow the regulation in the places it does business.

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christkv2y ago

That income is never repatriated and just sits in offshore accounts to avoid paying us taxes.

fauigerzigerk2y ago

>One would assume that if US corporations are making less profit due to fines, then they’re also paying less taxes to the U.S. government.

I'm not familiar with U.S tax law but in the UK fines are not tax deductable. Not sure whether it matters that the fine was imposed by a foreign country.

avianlyricOP2y ago

It doesn’t really matter if the fine is tax deductible. Less profits means less tax. The U.S. doesn’t tax based on revenue.

fauigerzigerk2y ago

If fines don't count as an ordinary and necessary business expense then taxable income will be higher and you pay more tax.

For something to be tax deductible means that it reduces taxable income. Essentially it works like this:

Revenue - tax deductable business expenses = taxable income.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

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heavenlyblue2y ago

Break the law to potentially get oversized profits, pay no tax if you are caught breaking the law. That's a perfect business plan.

capableweb2y ago

Generally I don't think you count profits that never happened as "cost to the taxpayer".

matsemann2y ago

capableweb2y ago

> It's companies being directly hampered by their connection to the US.

1 more reply

christkv2y ago

That income is never repatriated and just sits in offshore accounts to avoid paying us taxes.

fauigerzigerk2y ago

>One would assume that if US corporations are making less profit due to fines, then they’re also paying less taxes to the U.S. government.

I'm not familiar with U.S tax law but in the UK fines are not tax deductable. Not sure whether it matters that the fine was imposed by a foreign country.

avianlyricOP2y ago

It doesn’t really matter if the fine is tax deductible. Less profits means less tax. The U.S. doesn’t tax based on revenue.

fauigerzigerk2y ago

If fines don't count as an ordinary and necessary business expense then taxable income will be higher and you pay more tax.

For something to be tax deductible means that it reduces taxable income. Essentially it works like this:

Revenue - tax deductable business expenses = taxable income.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse