Amazon Corporation Tax

[doodab]

I tried to find data but failed - anyone know where we can find profit vs turnover for the biggest companies, FTSE100, DOW, or global lists?

Fortune 500 2012: Top Performers - Most Profitable Companies: Return on Revenues

[doodab]

All "corporate" taxes are passed onto customers.

VAT is a prime example, I charge VAT to clientco and give to HMRC. ClientCo reclaims VAT from HMRC. The only person not reclaiming VAT is the consumer.

VAT isn't a corporate tax. It's a tax on final consumption. That is why businesses can claim their input tax back.

[tomtomagain]

VAT isn't a corporate tax. It's a tax on final consumption. That is why businesses can claim their input tax back.

Yes I know that. I was just using it as an example of taxes that are passed onto the end consumer.

However it's not just the VAT levied on the consumer that is passed on it's also taxes such as employers NI that is passed on in the form of higher prices.

[OwlHoot]

This is why I said in an earlier thread this week that the only real way to combat this sort of behaviour is to set the corporate tax rate to zero.

At the end of the day all taxes are paid by consumers, employees and those receiving dividends.

All "corporate" taxes are passed onto customers.

VAT is a prime example, I charge VAT to clientco and give to HMRC. ClientCo reclaims VAT from HMRC. The only person not reclaiming VAT is the consumer.

All PAYE taxes are similarly "passed on" to the end customer in the guise of higher costs.


Setting the corp. tax to zero would level the playing field for all companies, big and small, and would prevent companies wasting their human-resources trying to eliminate tax.

Massive simplification is the only way to deal with the current situation. Complexity creates loopholes. Loopholes are exploited.

You seem to be looking at this down the wrong end of the telescope.

Surely "massive simplification" means taxing companies, who pass on the costs to consumers?

Don't you mean abolishing income tax and moving all (indirect) tax to consumption?

[d000hg]

Fortune 500 2012: Top Performers - Most Profitable Companies: Return on Revenues

Great

So from Fortune 500 2012: Fortune 1000 Companies 1-100 - FORTUNE on CNNMoney.com we see 7 companies had revenues of over 30 billion, but made losses. Fannie Mae made a loss on 137 billion.

[proggy]

Great

So from Fortune 500 2012: Fortune 1000 Companies 1-100 - FORTUNE on CNNMoney.com we see 7 companies had revenues of over 30 billion, but made losses. Fannie Mae made a loss on 137 billion.

Companies that make huge losses year after year don't last long unless they are too big to fail.

[jmo21]

Interesting follow up read

Guy makes it sounds all nicey nicey, but really they are just building a monopoly.

[VectraMan]

Companies that make huge losses year after year don't last long unless they are too big to fail.

Especially if they have to pay huge corporation tax bills based on what somebody outside the companies imagines their profits to be.

[doodab]

Instead of taxing companies we should license them. Tell them they need to buy a license and it will cost X. X needn't be related to turnover OR profit, it's simply what the licensing authority thinks they should pay.

Problem solved.

[doodab]

Yes I know that. I was just using it as an example of taxes that are passed onto the end consumer..

But it's not an example of a tax that's "passed on" to the end consumer. It is a tax directly levied ON the end consumer, and it's fundamentally different than taxes on salaries and other costs of doing business that are "passed on" to the end consumer.

Look at it another way, VAT could be collected only at the point of a "final sale" to an entity that didn't have a valid VAT number. Only consumers would ever be charged or pay VAT. For many businesses such as ours there would be no more charging of VAT (which is simply us collecting it on HMRC behalf) and no more VAT returns, but the amount of VAT collected would be exactly the same. Only the point of collection would be different.

This is why prices for goods businesses buy are usually quoted ex-VAT. The VAT (and the VAT rate) is irrelevant because it has absolutely no bearing on the cost of doing business.