[ NNSquad ] Re: "Friends in High Places": Washington State's Potential Tax Gift to Microsoft

[Rahul Tongia <tongia@cmu.edu>]

Interesting article.  What I saw near the end was the statement that this may be good going forward, whereby all companies (even those HQ outside Washington) would pay when they sell to Washington consumers, becoming a net positive for the state.

I think the issue here is one of universality of norms, state to state (or, ultimately, country to country).  In theory, this would be cost-neutral to all companies if ALL locations had similar laws. But the difficulties come when different states have different laws.  The other issue is one of transitions whenever we have rule changes.  Some things aren't just after-the-fact accounting - companies move for tax reasons.  After all, Boeing is an Illinois company now, and not a Washington company.  

Rahul

On Tue, Feb 16, 2010 at 3:53 AM, Lauren Weinstein <lauren@vortex.com> wrote:

"Friends in High Places":

Washington State May Give Microsoft a $100 Million Annual Tax Cut...and
Possible Amnesty on Past Tax Evasion

http://bit.ly/bUfZde  (Microsofttaxdodge.com)
                     [hey, I don't invent these domain names!]

--Lauren--
NNSquad Moderator