The Thriller
Well-Known Member
Just to clarify, Amazon had paid no federal tax the last couple years for a few reasons, R&D expenses, growth (business, equipment, etc.) and stock compensation for employees (not to be confused with an Employee Stock Ownership Plan or ESOP, which is a completely different animal and most often result in employees owning 100% of the company as an additional benefit that they don't pay for). Still, what Amazon is doing is nothing novel. Amazon provides stock compensation to employees that are valuable/help grow the business, and they get good deductions by doing this. Deductions for stock based compensation, retirement plan contributions, etc., are they type of deductions that are good for employees and society in general.
Now the tax breaks Amazon gets from state and local governments is a different discussion altogether.
Which is huge in states, like Utah who are giving handouts like candy to businesses to build up Lehi and Draper. These companies get handouts of free water, electricity, taxes, etc with the promises of "creating jobs" and "eventually paying" for all of these costs once they run out in 15 years. But then they'll threaten the local city and state governments that they'll pull out if they don't get these handouts renewed. This puts city and state governments in a real bind, since they don't want to be blamed for losing jobs after such a large taxpayer investment (building roads, new schools, etc) has been made. That'll mean political suicide.
Kansas tried this in the 1990s, and their economy has yet to recover.
Utah politicians are patting themselves on their backs right now for the "booming" economy... But I'm not so sure citizens are enjoying the short-term gains of growing way too much way too fast. Nor do I believe they're aware of the hidden costs that are going to come crashing down here in about 10-15 years when companies all along "silicon slopes" demand a renewal of their handouts OR ELSE.
Just because your economy is growing fast doesn't mean it's a healthy economy. If fast growing economies were so great, we'd all be admiring Indonesia, Panama, and Pakistan right now. Which is probably why you never hear on KSL or read in the Dnews what these "new jobs" in Utah are offering in terms of wages... Hehehe, our politicians always tout "new jobs" but never describe the wages or impact costs. Gee, I wonder why?
But quick, look! New Prison! Inland port! Uhhhhhh lets hurry and distract people with a new drunk driving law! #MAGA