zlacker

>>pseudo+(OP)
This is a company that pays almost no Federal taxes, whose employees are forced to seek aid from the Federal govt. The least they could do is offer paid sick leave for those affected. Hardcore capitalism is doing as much harm to the US during this crisis as the virus itself.

>>DrWumb+Pa
> This is a company that pays almost no Federal taxes

Indeed, if you reinvest almost all your profits in the business instead of taking them as earnings you pay very little in taxes. Taxing investment would be a very stupid thing to do since it would discourage what makes society richer in the long run.

>>barry-+kb
If the issue was that simple ans black&white then bezos would not have his fortune. Amazon has gamed the system.

>>matt_t+2c
I would argue the income tax issue is that simple. The bet Amazon made was that profits didn't define the valuation of the business. The part that wasn't black & white was that folks were split on whether he was a genius or a scam artist running a book retailer with a 400+ p/e ratio.

Gaming the system is what I'd call their sales tax treatment. They didn't collect it everywhere until they got so large that they're warehouses and datacenters were everywhere. And depending on jurisdiction I think its the 3rd party sellers' responsibility where possible.