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Microsoft Freeloading In Washington State Courts
,----[ Quote ]
| For tax purposes, Microsoft reports that
| it's earned its estimated $143 billion in
| software licensing revenue in Nevada, where
| there is no licensing tax, as we discussed
| a few weeks ago. However, for legal
| purposes, Microsoft relies on Washington
| law and its underfunded courts to defend
| its contracts as it did in Microsoft
| Licensing GP vs. TSR Silicon. Application
| of common legal doctrines such as nexus,
| the step doctrine, and alter ego theory may
| lead to findings that Microsoft owes the
| state more than $1 billion in taxes,
| interest, and penalties.
`----
http://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/10/26/1215210/Microsoft-Freeloading-In-Washington-State-Courts?art_pos=1
Microsoftâs Washington Tax Dodge Nears $1 Billion
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| When you buy Microsoft software in a box
| for personal use, you pay sales tax at the
| point of delivery. But, when large
| corporations purchase Microsoft software,
| they are actually buying an electronic
| download with the right to install that
| software on a pre-determined number of
| computers. The same goes for PC
| manufacturers such as Dell that preinstall
| Microsoft Windows 7 on its computers.
|
| [...]
|
| Arenât there laws against this?
|
| According to the Department of Revenue, to
| avoid this tax, a company, like Microsoft,
| would need to âeffectively transfer the
| property to a related company (e.g., parent
| and subsidiary corporations) located
| outside Washingtonâ and recognize income
| from the value of the transfer on its
| Washington taxes. Itâs not clear that
| Microsoft has done this â and there are
| legal doctrines to charge a corporation if
| it illegally evades its taxes:
|
| 1) The doctrine of Nexus represents ties or
| links that a corporation has with a state.
| Microsoft clearly has nexus in Washington
| given its 40,224 employees, 9.8 million
| square feet and 79 physical sites. Its
| software also has nexus here as most is
| built, tested, marketed, sold and
| distributed from these facilities.
| Microsoftâs historical use of the laws of
| Washington to govern its licensing
| contracts, its Washington-based lawyers and
| its use of Washingtonâs courts to defend it
| also contribute to the nexus of its
| licensing business.
|
| 2) The Step Doctrine focuses on whether
| steps of a transaction may stand alone or,
| rather, whether the transaction should be
| treated as a whole. It can be applied when
| a corporation creates additional artificial
| steps to appear as if it is not liable to
| pay tax.
|
| [...]
|
| Do Microsoftâs Practices Constitute Illegal
| Tax Evasion?
|
| Over the past few weeks, Iâve been asking
| Washingtonâs Department of Revenue to
| publish a finding on the legality of this
| kind of tax practice. The department is
| required to protect the privacy of
| taxpayers and therefore cannot answer
| specific questions about Microsoft only
| questions about specific practices in the
| abstract.
`----
http://blog.reifman.org/2009/10/microsofts-washington-tax-dodge-nears-1-billion.html
Recent:
GE, Microsoft, Caterpillar fight Obama tax plan
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) have seen their
| bottom lines bulge over the years by farming out work for cheaper
| compensation to overseas countries. Now, with the U.S. economy reeling,
| President Obama's $190 billion tax proposal that ends incentives for American
| companies to create employment overseas while hoping to create more jobs in
| America won't necessarily have the intended impact, according to economists,
| businesses and some Obama insiders, Bloomberg reports.
`----
http://www.thedeal.com/dealscape/2009/05/obama_tax_plan_could_collatera.php
Microsoft debt offering raises questions about plans for funds
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft, which has historically avoided borrowing money, this morning took
| the next step in its previously announced plan to raise funds through a
| public debt offering. The company made the move in a preliminary prospectus
| filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
`----
http://www.techflash.com/microsoft/Microsoft_debt_offering_raises_questions_about_plans_for_funds_44725857.html
How Obama's tax reforms could impact Microsoft's bottom line
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| The debate hinges on policies that let companies with international
| operations avoid higher U.S. tax rates by reinvesting their foreign earnings
| overseas. The Obama administration last Monday detailed its plan to put a
| damper on that practice.
|
| "Currently, businesses that invest overseas can take immediate deductions on
| their U.S. tax returns for expenses supporting their overseas investments but
| nevertheless 'defer' paying U.S. taxes on the profits they make from those
| investments," the White House said in a May 4 briefing document. "As a
| result, U.S. taxpayer dollars are used to provide a significant tax advantage
| to companies who invest overseas relative to those who invest and create jobs
| at home."
`----
http://www.techflash.com/microsoft/How_Obamas_tax_plan_could_impact_Microsofts_bottom_line_44679452.html
Microsoft subsidiary has â477m pretax profit
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft Ireland Operations Ltd (MIOL) had turnover of â11.3 billion and
| paid corporation tax of â63.5 million according to accounts just lodged with
| the Companies Office and seen by The Irish Times.
`----
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2009/0429/1224245596231.html
Microsoft Ireland slashes US dividend as profits rise
,----[ Quote ]
| The dividend payment is roughly half the almost â3bn the Irish subsidiary
| remitted to the US headquarters in the financial year ended June 2006.
`----
http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/microsoft-ireland-slashes-us-dividend-as-profits-rise-1364208.html
Microsoft in tax evasion soup
,----[ Quote ]
| Software major Microsoft Corpâs Indian subsidiary has been issued a
| show-cause notice for non-payment of service tax worth Rs 127 crore. The tax
| has been claimed on services offered to Microsoft Singapore by way of
| marketing support.
`----
http://infotech.indiatimes.com/Microsoft_in_tax_evasion_soup/rssarticleshow/2977840.cms
Tax benefit helped Microsoft's 3Q earnings
,----[ Quote ]
| Turns out Microsoft and Uncle Sam have been going back through the company's
| books from 2000 to 2003. Not knowing how that would end up, Microsoft
| had "over accrued" its tax provision in past quarters, said Colleen Healy,
| general manager of investor relations. With the review settled, the company
| was able to reduce that provision.
`----
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2004377713_btdownload28.html
Microsoft Leads in Lobbying Largesse
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft is leading the tech industryâs charge up Capitol Hill, according to
| statistics released Monday.
|
| The world's largest software company spent $9 million on lobbyists to make
| its case in issues including taxes and trade, according to statistics
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
| compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics.
`----
http://www.redherring.com/Home/24187
Related:
Wis. Bill to Require Tax Loophole Data
,----[ Quote ]
| Wisconsin Bill Would Require More Reporting on Tax Loopholes
|
| [...]
|
| A message left with Microsoft was not immediately returned.
`----
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/071219/wi_corporate_taxes.html?.v=4
Microsoft says to borrow money for Yahoo deal
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft Corp said on Monday it may borrow money for the first time in its
| history to fund a portion of its $44.6 billion unsolicited offer for Yahoo
| Inc.
`----
http://www.reuters.com/article/companyNews/idUSN0455692920080205
Bill Gates: Rich Individuals Should Pay More Tax, Wealthy Corporations Less?
,----[ Quote ]
| As Taxing Tennessee points out, Bill Gates opposes eliminating the death tax
| but is quite happy to have local and state taxes eliminated for his
| company...
`----
http://seekingalpha.com/article/65465-bill-gates-rich-individuals-should-pay-more-tax-wealthy-corporations-less?source=yahoo
,----[ Quote ]
| My background is finance and accounting....
|
| However, the Gates Buffet foundation grant is nothing more than a shell
| game in which control of assets for both Gates and Buffet remain the same.
|
| THE ONLY DIFFERENCE IS THAT THE ACCUMULATION OF WEALTH BY THESE TWO WILL BE
| MUCH MORE MASSIVE BECAUSE THEY WILL NO LONGER HAVE TO PAY ANY TAXES.
`----
http://www.mail-archive.com/futurew...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx/msg03323.html
Microsoft EULA lands it with $175m Indian tax headache
,----[ Quote ]
| Basing its ruling on the terms of Microsoft's own EULA (end-user license
| agreement), an Indian court has ordered the company to pay tax on royalty
| income generated in the country, Tax India Online (TIOL) reports.
|
| [...]
|
| âUnacceptable tax avoidance typically involved the creation of complex
| artificial structures by which, as though by the wave of a magic wand, the
| tax payer conjures out of the air a loss, or a gain, or expenditure, or
| whatever it may be, which otherwise would never have existed. These
| structures are designed to achieve an adventitious tax benefit for the
| taxpayer, and in truth are no more than raids on the public funds at the
| expense of the general body of taxpayers, and as such are unacceptable.
`----
http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2008/03/31/microsoft_india_tax_ruling/
Cheers not jeers to Speaker Chopp on the Microsoft tax concession
,----[ Quote ]
| The Columbia Basin Herald this past week characterized House Speaker Frank
| Chopp as being a Forrest Gump, "stupid is as stupid does" villain for
| opposing big proposed tax breaks for Microsoft and Yahoo. The tax concession,
| those companies said, were necessary to keep them from fleeing Grant County,
| where they have huge server farms. The requests were similar to the $3.2
| billion in breaks Boeing Co. got from Governor Gary Locke and the Legislature
| when it threatened to take some of its assembly operations elsewhere.
`----
http://www.crosscut.com/business-technology/12933/Cheers+not+jeers+to+Speaker+Chopp+on+the+Microsoft+tax+concession/
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