No Tax for Walmart: How the Largest Company in the World Tricked the US Treasury

[unhappycamper]

http://watchingamerica.com/WA/2015/07/05/no-tax-for-walmart-how-the-largest-company-in-the-world-tricked-the-us-treasury/

A network of off-shore companies in order to bypass American taxes, with Luxembourg at its center: The large-scale retail giant paid 1 percent tax on profits of $1.3 billion.

No Tax for Walmart: How the Largest Company in the World Tricked the US Treasury
Published in L'espresso (Italy) on 17 June 2015 by Vittorio Malagutti [link to original]
Translated from Italian by Rosalyn Munton. Edited by Bora Mici.
Posted on July 5, 2015.

It has a secret network of 78 companies scattered among 15 offshore havens around the world, beginning with Luxembourg. Billions of dollars are bouncing from one end of the planet to the other in the form of loans, and various games of financial engineering to disguise the profits. This is how the great chain of Wal-Mart stores, the largest business in the world by revenue ($485 billion in 2014), managed to elude the U.S. Treasury, saving hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes. The accusations come from Americans for Tax Fairness, a U.S. organization, which campaigns for fiscal transparency and which has published a dossier on the retail giant's relaxed fiscal affairs.

The key elements to these affairs seem to be tax evasion on a huge scale, along with Luxembourg (yet again), which over the last few months has been at the center of the world scandal renamed LuxLeaks, regarding agreements between various multinationals and the Grand Duchy to reduce taxes to a minimum. Essentially, from 2011, Wal-Mart transferred control of activities for $45 billion, under the names of 22 different holding companies, to the small European state. The result? The American company paid taxes of less than 1 percent on its profits of $1.3 billion, made between 2010 and 2013.

Wal-Mart has set down roots in many countries around the world, from the United Kingdom to China, from Brazil to Japan, but in 90 percent of the cases, controls on these companies outside the U.S. depend on subsidiaries in Luxembourg or the Netherlands, another European country with generous tax laws. The most common system for reducing taxes by as much as possible is the so-called intercompany loan. It works like this: Companies in tax havens lend money to companies in America, and the relative interest, cashed in Luxembourg or the Netherlands, is almost tax-free.

So that's how offshore holdings become extremely rich bank vaults, which contribute to the group's global profits. And that's not all. Eventually the money is repatriated, without paying tax this time either, in order to support the group's activities in America. In light of this information, Americans for Tax Fairness is asking for intervention from the Treasury and the SEC, the Stock Exchange regulation authority.

[DemReadingDU]

1. I haven't shopped at Wal-mart in years, n/t

[peace13]

2. Hillary was legal counsel at the start up of Walmart.

..the killer of Main Street and global tax evader as it turns out. Gotta love it.

[Dr Hobbitstein]

3. False.

The first Walmart store opened in 1962, when Hillary was 15.
Hillary was on the Walmart board of directors in the 1980s, and pushed for women's issues while she was there. (she was considered a "thorn in Sam Walton's side&quot . This, of course, was back in the days of Made In The USA, before Sam Walton died and Walmart turned into the Made in China evil juggernaut it is today.

[peace13]

8. No matter the year.

The store was designed to put Main Street down. Interpret her involvement however you want.

[Dr Hobbitstein]

9. Once again, false.

Sam Walton's walmart is 100% different than the behemoth run by his kids. You really should read into things before spouting unsubstantiated bullshit.

[Fuddnik]

10. Sam Walton was a lying piece of shit.

He threatened, in front of witnesses, to shut down a warehouse if they tried to organize a union. A blatant violation of labor law.

Also, his made in the USA schtick turned out to be a sham. And most everything that turned out to be "Made in Amerika", was produced in sweatshops in the Marianas, and a few other territories.

A good friend of Tom Delay, and Jack Abramoff no doubt.

On edit: Where do you think his kids learned this shit?

[Dr Hobbitstein]

11. Yes, he was anti-union.

He was also anti-equal pay for women, which is something Hillary fought for while she was on the board of directors in the 80s.
I wasn't defending Sam Walton, just saying that his kids are worse.

Also, interesting to note, she only made around $21K/yr while on the board.

[peace13]

12. Your kindness...

...is noted.

[awoke_in_2003]

6. Before the kids took it over

and became the vulture it is now.

[mother earth]

4. We wouldn't have many problems if it weren't for the plutocracy & THIS kind of corruption, aided &

abetted by Congress & SCOTUS.

[wordpix]

5. "paid taxes of less than 1 percent on its profits of $1.3 billion" Calling BERNIE!

Bernie needs to use this as an example of excess and ripoff of the American public.

Meanwhile, those making under $89K/yr. are paying 15-25% tax rate

http://www.usfunds.com/media/files/pdfs/reference-guides/Tax-Table-Handout_2014.pdf

[Fuddnik]

7. There's another little nugget in their business model.

Usually when the plan on setting up shop some place, they get the legislature or county or city commission to set up what is known as "tax increment financing". They don't tell people what that is, but most people assume they get a break on their property taxes, which they usually do for creating this mega- job creating masterpiece.

But what it means is, they get to keep all or a part, usually most of any sales tax generated at the store for so many years, until the construction costs are paid off. They get the store for free.

Talk about getting you coming and going.