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Amanda Congdon's Sometimesdaily Internet Justice: Bill Gates Owes A Bill-ion!
,----[ Quote ]
| It's now been ten days since we asked
| Microsoft's Steve Ballmer to honor his
| commitment to transparent business practices
| and open up Microsoft's Washington state tax
| records...we're still waiting. For now Steve,
| we'll take that as a non-denial confession.
|
| This week, Internet video reporter Amanda
| Congdon interviewed me for Sometimesdaily's
| latest installment... Internet Justice: Bill
| Gates Owes A Bill-ion! It's a fun look at a
| subject that we take very seriously here in
| Washington State.
`----
http://microsofttaxdodge.com/2009/12/sometimesdailyamanda-congdon-reports-on-microsoft.html
Recent:
Microsoft and licensing taxes, on KUOW
,----[ Quote ]
| Appearing on KUOW's "The Conversation" on
| Monday was Jeff Reifman, a former Microsoft
| employee who has been writing about
| Microsoft's software-licensing practices and
| whether they are illegal.
|
| He asserts that Microsoft sidesteps Washington
| tax law by licensing its software out of an
| office in Reno, Nev. Nevada has no software-
| licensing tax; Washington does.
`----
http://blog.seattlepi.com/microsoft/archives/186105.asp
Reno's Microsoft outpost has grown from 40 to 250 employees
,----[ Quote ]
| âThis is an attempt for people to know
| more about us,â said Mary Ellen Smith,
| general manager of the Reno operation
| which employs 250 people.
`----
http://www.rgj.com/article/20091204/BIZ/91204039/1003/CARSON/Reno-s-Microsoft-outpost-has-grown-from-40-to-250-employees
Related:
Now Obama is driving Microsoft overseas
,----[ Quote ]
| It takes an incredibly powerful company to threaten the U.S. government in
| hopes of impacting a significant decision, but thatâs precisely what
| Microsoft is doing. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer made headlines when he
| publicly attacked President Barack Obamaâs plan to cut tax breaks on U.S.
| companiesâ foreign profits, a plan which is currently awaiting Congressional
| approval. Mr. Ballmer suggests that if the tax succeeds, Microsoft may begin
| a significant move out of the U.S., taking with it tax revenue and jobs. He
| states, âIt makes U.S. jobs more expensive. Weâre better off taking lots of
| people and moving them out of the U.S. as opposed to keeping them inside the
| U.S.â
|
| [...]
|
| Mr. Ballmer, perhaps the most outspoken critic, did acknowledge that the
| Obama proposal preserved research and experimentation cost tax breaks. He
| warned, though, that the cuts to foreign exemptions would raise the cost of
| Microsoftâs 56,552 U.S. employees. He says this could necessitate moving them
| overseas. Microsoft was previously embroiled in a controversy over whether it
| should lay off foreign workers before U.S. ones.
`----
http://www.stoptheaclu.com/2009/06/07/now-obama-is-driving-microsoft-overseas/
Ballmer Says Tax Would Move Microsoft Jobs Offshore
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| Microsoft Corp. Chief Executive Officer Steven Ballmer said the worldâs
| largest software company would move some employees offshore if Congress
| enacts President Barack Obamaâs plans to impose higher taxes on U.S.
| companiesâ foreign profits.
`----
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=amBiYGyHOkZ8
Ballmer Says Tax Would Move Microsoft Jobs Offshore
http://americandaily.com/index.php/article/1488
Tax plan would send jobs offshore, Ballmer says
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/microsoft/2009298130_ballmertaxes04.html
Microsoft speaks against foreign profit tax proposal
http://www.thenewstribune.com/business/story/766636.html
Microsoft debt offering raises questions about plans for funds
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| 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
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| 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
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| 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
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| 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
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| 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
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
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/
Microsoft Might Not Go Ahead With Hearing In European Antitrust Case
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| The European Commission was certainly not swayed by Microsoftâs arguments
| during a similar hearing six years agoâand the companyâs chances this time
| around are not looking much better. In January, the European Commission said
| its preliminary view was that Microsoft had stifled competition in the
| browser market by packaging Internet Explorer and Windows. Google (NSDQ:
| GOOG) and Mozilla have since said that they support the European Commissionâs
| preliminary findings. And earlier this month, a host of other tech companies,
| including IBM, Adobe (NSDQ: ADBE), and RealNetworks (NSDQ: RNWK), represented
| by the European Committee for Interoperable Systems, also joined as third
| parties in the case.
`----
http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-microsoft-might-not-go-ahead-hearing-in-european/
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