How to earn $1 billion and pay no taxes

1. 78

   Greekgeekposted 11 years ago

   Must be nice...
   
   Facebook made over $1 billion last year, but will pay no taxes -- in fact, it'll get a refund. How?
   
   1. Make stock options part of the employee benefits package.
   2. Write off the stock options, deducting them from the tax you owe.
   3. The employees pay taxes on the stock options -- at a much higher tax rate, since they don't have the special tax breaks that big corporations and top earners get.
   
   http://money.cnn.com/2013/02/22/technol … =obnetwork

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   1. 88

      Stacie Lposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      As usual, big business wins and the little guy loses...

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2. 63

   Fastianposted 11 years ago

   Legal corruption!!!

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3. 84

   bysheaposted 11 years ago

   These are loop holes that definitely need to be dealt with in our tax system.  Unfortunately this just fosters the attitude that has been generated these past four years that corporations and people who are successful are bad.

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4. 59

   tirelesstravelerposted 11 years ago

   Facebook got lots of these perks by being a big Democratic supporter.

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   1. 78

      Greekgeekposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Actually, the same loopholes are enjoyed by Big Oil, Wall Street investment firms, etc.
      
      Corporate tax breaks are not limited by party affiliation. It's just that these are the kinds of tax breaks the GOP considers untouchable, while education, health care and infrastructure (roads, the power grid, support for veterans) are slashed to fund those tax breaks.

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5. 93

   wildernessposted 11 years ago

   I guess I don't get it.  The only stock option I ever got as an employee was just that - an option to buy stock if I chose to do so.  Until I exercised that option I owed no tax and assume that the company could take no deduction as they had paid nothing out.  When I left the last company, for instance I had the option to purchase several thousand dollars at a particular price.  While the price was set at the time the option was given to me (valid for 5 years) the value of the stock had dropped far below the price I would have had to pay; I did not purchase the stock, it was not compensation and I had no taxes to file on it.
   
   If the employees exercised their option to buy (or receive) then it is obviously compensation (pay) and taxes are owed by the employee and the employer takes a deduction as a payroll cost.  No particular loopholes there.

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