2y ago

Microsoft put their tax-evasion in writing and now they owe $29 billion.

Pluralistic: Microsoft put their tax-evasion in writing and now they owe $29 billion; The Lost Cause prologue, part 6 (13 Oct 2023) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow

16 comments

Don't forget to read down to the part where they are planning to continually tie this up in court until a Republican lets them off. Same thing they did with the anti-trust lawsuit. Same shit different day until something changes. I'll believe they pay this when I see it happen.
- They'll get their $29 billion fine reduced to like $3.50 one way or another
Just imagine, this ONE company out of the hundreds if not thousands pulling this same shit are brought into compliance (and by compliance, I mean what they ethically should be paying in taxes), then how much good we COULD be doing as a nation. I say that but also have no doubts that the elected officials will just use it as their personal piggy bank to fund their friends companies.
- Don't worry, there may not have been much trickling down in the last few decades YET, but I was told that was juuust about due any decade now...
- For the conservatives, this is 2900 Abrams tanks or 362 1/2 F-35A fighters.
UK here. Can they do the maths for us too please?. Just a few billion would let us employ a few thousand more doctors.. That'd be awesome..Thx.
- That implies the doctors would actually be seeing any of that.
  
  Unfortunately, it turns out that, in retrospect, the billions did not quite have the desired effect and the health system is just as fucked as it was before, but - unrelated: have you seen my new yachts? They're even bigger than those of my cronies!
- I don’t know much about the UK. Is there a doctor shortage there?
  
  From the UK, the NHS is in a pretty bad state. Long wait times, overworked and underfunded doctors to the point some of them are moving for better pay overseas, possible management issues (anecdotal, read on Reddit years ago) are to name a few. While not unique to it, there's a certain pride to the NHS being a success for socialised healthcare so to see it in the state it's in can be extremely frustrating especially as someone living in the UK.
Can I have some
- Dibs!
Believe it or not, that's standard practice. Everyone wants the lowest taxes
- I pay what I believe I owe, not what I believe I can get away with. Most people do.
Maybe reclaim some of gates' land he's been buying up and turn it all into public land?

16 comments