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Home Front: Culture Wars

Google funnels money to keep taxes low

2010-10-21

Google Inc. cut its taxes by $3.1 billion in the last three years using a technique that moves most of its foreign profits through Ireland and the Netherlands to Bermuda.

Google's income shifting -- involving strategies known to lawyers as the "Double Irish" and the "Dutch Sandwich" -- helped reduce its overseas tax rate to 2.4 percent, the lowest of the top five U.S. technology companies by market capitalization, according to regulatory filings in six countries.
As Mr. Green points out, "Higher tax rates do no necessarily generate higher tax revenue."
Flat tax now!

Posted by:DarthVader

#9 No Halloween candy at my house for the trick-
'r treaters this year. I'm taking the Obama lead and sending it to kids too lazy to walk the neighborhood and carry a bag.

Posted by: Besoeker 2010-10-21 20:48

#8 Gorb, I think they were proposing exactly that in the UK - the government would get all paychecks and dole out what they wanted to give to people.

Posted by: Rambler in Virginia 2010-10-21 20:44

#7 It would have to be hard wired to a certain percentage and a lot of other taxes went away.

Like the income tax when it started out at 1%? Turns out that was just a pilot program, I guess.

But yeah, if they could fix the flat tax permanently to say 5% for the feds and abolish all other forms of federal taxation I'd go for it.

Once you add up all the taxes, including taxes on evil businesses, energy, sins, cell phones, property, and whatever else, it probably turns out we have to work from January through July or August to pay for it all. Maybe if people had to give their paychecks directly to the tax authorities until the yearly quota is reached it would provoke a few changes in how people look at their taxes.

Posted by: gorb 2010-10-21 14:21

#6 <3 Google

Posted by: HEU 2010-10-21 14:10

#5 I'm a Georgist so I support taxes on Land Rights, and other monopolies protected by the state (patents and copyrights).

Difficult to avoid...

Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2010-10-21 13:50

#4 This issue is almost as complicated as paying for health care. There's a FairTax website here. Its online comparison tax calculator tried to persuade me that paying 400% more in federal taxes was good for me.

Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2010-10-21 12:48

#3 It would have to be hard wired to a certain percentage and a lot of other taxes went away.
State & local property taxes were supposed to be 'hard wired' to a certain percentage, but that has rarely happened. As for making the other taxes 'go away,'...

Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2010-10-21 12:30

#2 Not necessarily, gorb. It would have to be hard wired to a certain percentage and a lot of other taxes went away. The countries which have adopted it and kept it reasonable have had great success with the flat tax.

Posted by: DarthVader 2010-10-21 10:34

#1 Flat tax now!

Careful with the unintended consequences. If we had a flat tax, the government would be taking more of our money and would grow even bigger than it is now.

Posted by: gorb 2010-10-21 10:29

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