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Different cities bidding discounts to attract multinationals is a lose lose game for the cities. The EU recognizes this and has tried to stop some of it. Ryanair typically tried to do a runner and not pay the fine
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-46152849 -
A lot of that is effectively regeneration which will also act as an economic stimulus.
Lol trickledown...
Also, one city's gain is another city's loss.
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It's one of the areas where supra-national regulation may really annoy governments and corporations, but is a huge benefit to the countries in the union.
For e.g. Ireland does well out of low tax for big corporates, but if/when the EU harmonises tax on corporate profits it will remove the race to the bottom factor.
That means that attracting big companies needs to be done on the basis of a skilled workforce, good facilities, good social care etc.
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Are you arguing just for the sake of arguing, or do you really believe that countries/cities should offer huge tax incentives to the largest, most profitable countries in the world so that they will relocate there.
I mean, Amazon is literally owned by the richest man in the world. They already pay next to no tax. They should not be given even more tax breaks.
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Which is great if you're a developed country like France, with a range of industries, infrastructure and multinationals. But if you're a county like a pre-'90s ROI it sucks balls.
Which is one of the reasons that the EU supports countries such as pre-90's ROI with funds redistributed from richer members.
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No, I'm not.
Yes, I do think that where there is autonomy countries/cities should be able to manage their affairs to encourage businesses to locate there when their cost/benefit analysis shows a net benefit.
In relation to the tax paid by Amazon - of course, it is ridiculous that the world hasn't updated their tax treatment of tech companies. Yes, their HR practices show them and Bezos up as cunts. We can only hope that at some point he has a Gates-style moment of clarity and puts his money to proper use - rather than just the PR bullshit over the last year or so... what was the breakdown on that Dreamers college donation... something equivalent to a $100k p/a earner donating $230?
@Dammit - it would be really interesting to see numbers on the gains from becoming a tax haven Vs. the total EU grants received.
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In theory yes, but it can also lead to a rent crisis like San Fransisco now has.
As an influx of high paid employees will lead to increased rents. So let's hope they use the cash wisely.
How much tax would they < f-all whatever they get away with
and their employees pay if they set up in Austin? < full tax, but see above on potential issues with housing
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Yes, I do think that where there is autonomy countries/cities should be able to manage their affairs to encourage businesses to locate there when their cost/benefit analysis shows a net benefit.
Which would be all fine and well, except a business has to locate somewhere, so all this does is promote a race to the bottom with no material benefits for anyone other than the corporation doing the bargaining.
In relation to the tax paid by Amazon - of course, it is ridiculous that the world hasn't updated their tax treatment of tech companies. Yes, their HR practices show them and Bezos up as cunts. We can only hope that at some point he has a Gates-style moment of clarity and puts his money to proper use
LOL. Do remind me of this when it happens. Waiting for people who have manifestly shown themselves to not have a conscience to suddenly develop one
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https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/11/14/amazon_hq2_empire_state_building_orange/
WTF Amazon is getting tax breaks as well for moving. The put 2.5 BN into new york (not sure where figure comes from) but they get a 1.2 BN tax break.
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@Dammit - it would be really interesting to see numbers on the gains from becoming a tax haven Vs. the total EU grants received.
It's much more than a simple revenue figure though - being a tax haven means that the company can likely afford to bring the people in that they need. They're gaining the majority of the benefit.
Growing a society to the point where there is an environment conducive to a tech company has much further reaching impact on said society - you need skills, you need housing, you need infrastructure, you need culture to make people stay/come.
If you make a company like Amazon score places on skills/quality of life/infrastructure rather than $ then the societies who compete to attract them do more, for more.
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If a storyline from a Chris Morris show later happens in reality, does that make Chris Morris right or wrong?
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Politics also plays a big part in these decisions, as was the case in Wisconsin's $4.1 billion dollar subsidy to Foxconn. The state isn't expected to start seeing a return till 2042. They offered $230,000 per job, which will go much, much higher, as the number of jobs is going way down:
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In other depressing news:
"The G20 nations increased subsidies for fossil fuels from $75bn (£58bn) to $147bn (£114bn) between 2007 and 2016, although they pledged to phase them out more than 10 years ago."
and these two gems:
"82% of energy in these countries still being provided by coal, oil and gas, a factor which has relied on a doubling of subsidies over the past 10 years to compete with increasingly cheap wind, solar and other renewable energy sources.""Britain has made the fastest transition, with a 7.7% decline in the use of fossil fuels between 2012 and 2015, but the report warned that this could stall in the years ahead because the government had cut support for feed-in tariffs, energy efficiency and zero-carbon homes"
So we are doubling fossil fuel subsidies whilst cutting renewable subsidies. Happy days!
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Foxconn is such a good name for that company
instead of a factory of workers building panels for 75-inch TVs, Foxconn executives now say the goal is to build “ecosystem” of buzzwords called “AI 8K+5G” with most of the manufacturing done by robots.
and the Governor who set up the deal has just lost his job to a 67 year old Democrat 49.6% to 48.4%
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Bill Gates is noteworthy precisely because no-one else in recent American history has done the same thing as him, no?
Imagine, if you will, that rather than hoping these rich people might develop a conscience in their old age, that instead some sort of mechanism might exist that makes them help support the society that they profit from. I don't know what we could call this mechanism though ...
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Pretty sure most accounts of him in his early years were that he was a ruthless AF. MS have hardly been a beacon of open competition.
It's just all anyone now thinks of is that meme comparing him and Steve Jobs.
EDIT: not taking anything away from the amazing work the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation do, or what he has achieved.
EDIT 2: oh right.
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We can't do both?