Coke chief criticises US tax rules

[alp227]

Source: Financial Times

Coca-Cola now sees the US as a less friendly business environment than China, its chief executive has revealed, citing political gridlock and an antiquated tax structure as reasons its home market has become less competitive.

“It’s like a well-managed company, China,” Muhtar Kent, Coke’s chief executive, told the Financial Times. “You have a one-stop shop in terms of the Chinese foreign investment agency and local governments are fighting for investment with each other.”

Mr Kent also pointed to Brazil as an example of an emerging economy that is making itself attractive to investment in ways that the US once did.

“They’re learning very fast, these countries,” he said. “In the west, we’re forgetting what really worked 20 years ago. In China and other markets around the world, you see the kind of attention to detail about how business works and how business creates employment.”

Read more: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/071f902c-e636-11e0-960c-00144feabdc0.html

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Google the title for full article.

[MichiganVote]

1. Sure, a communist country with a horrendous human rights record is now the bomb. Pathetic.

[blank space]

26. how ridiculous of you,

seriously it is not reasonable for someone to suggest that companies should not go to China from America due to human rights abuses when America is easily, the greatest human rights abuser to ever exist - its just ridiculous - having murdered well over a million innocent civilians in the past decade alone through direct military action and probably close to 20-30 million through corporate, government acquiescence in order to exploit markets.

It is reasonable however to simply argue that he is aiding and abetting in the destruction of the middle class and a traitor. But Chinese human rights abuses pale into insignificance next to American.

Sorry, bet thems the facts.

[24601]

31. Not unless you can prove it by listing all their names & passport

numbers.

Before 8:30 PM, EDT.

[madrchsod]

35. "the greatest human rights abuser ever to exist" ?

that is not even close to be true....

[MichiganVote]

38. Oh ok, is that what I suggested? Sure whatever.

[Avalux]

2. TRAITOR. He likes China because it's cheap. No allegiance to the country that made him. n/t

[katsy]

3. Then just go.

Take your wife and kids and move there.

Good luck.

The U.S. has organic microbrewers that can pick up the slack.

Take your crap and go.

[sulphurdunn]

17. They'd just import it duty free.

On the other hand, liquid is very heavy. Whatever, Coke has no problem having union organizers murdered who try to unionize its plants in Colombia (irony intended). They operate down there like King Coal did here at the beginning of the 20th Century.

[katsy]

30. Yes to tariffs.

And yes to subsidizing small breweries.

Coke needs to go and take that shit for product with them.

At some point voters and consumers need to take care of their own.

China is a much better fit for coke than the US. With china's piss poor human rights and coke's unhealthy drinks they are a match made in hell. Fuck them.

[DJ13]

4. Fine, then cease operations in the US and stop selling here

Put your money where your mouth is.

[elleng]

5. We shouldn't be surprised by such statements/actions by businesspeople;

That's life. It IS a global economy, like it or not.

[Confusious]

8. I don't like it; it should change

Giving tax breaks to business who ship jobs overseas should stop, along with offshore accounts, and a whole host of other things.

[leftyohiolib]

18. well then the great and powerful coke has spoken

cant do anything about it now except put on our rags and live a peasant's life scratching in the dirt cause "That's life. It IS a global economy, like it or not." you forgot to add "there's not a damned thing you can do about it"

[elleng]

37. I'm a realist.

Sorry it will be so difficult to change the tax system, but it will be. Think 'health care' was difficult?

[saras]

42. It's not the tax system we have to change, it's Coca-Cola.

If you go about it ass-backwards, not only is it hard, but, like health care, it won't really work. What health care needed was to weed the profiteers out of the system, not obligate everyone else to give them free money.

Sure, we could make a tax system like China's, and permanently institutionalize the wealth imbalance and corporate rule. And this is supposed to be worth it to America, in order to have cheap Coke?

[plumbob]

23. AND they have benefited greatly from our infrastructure, including our

education system, roads, phones and so on.

So figure out what per cent of the company was built with infrastructure not 100% compensated to the end of its life, and then charge them an exit fee?

If you have a US engineer, for instance, making $120,000 a year, and he's 45, you owe us 20 years remaining of his usefulness or $2.4 million for him or her, whether you keep them or not in the future, because their education helped make the company, and you would not be paying them more than their contribution.

So they are free to go after paying their way here.

[RufusTFirefly]

6. Good riddance

[msongs]

7. corn syryp peddler can save money in china using toxic waste instead lol nt

[SkyDaddy7]

9. I agree with another poster...Take your wife & kids there

and enjoy the rewards of a communist country!

Having said that he is correct about our tax system...It needs to be reformed so that Corp. can't use all the loopholes to pay little or no tax. Then you we can actually lower the Corp. tax rate yet bring in more revenue...Win Win.

[Riftaxe]

11. Love it or leave it....

Hmmmm, I seem to remember hearing that argument before, can't say i was very impressed with the jingoistic bastards then or now.

[SkyDaddy7]

19. Opinions are like assholes...

:hi:

[yourout]

10. In other words......they will fight each other to see who can pay the lowest wages.

[thelordofhell]

12. Atlanta are you hearing this?

One of your biggest employers is seriously mulling about skipping out of the country.

[EC]

13. A one-stop shop....well, well,

“It’s like a well-managed company, China,” Muhtar Kent, Coke’s chief executive, told the Financial Times. “You have a one-stop shop in terms of the Chinese foreign investment agency and local governments are fighting for investment with each other.”


Could that be because it's a communist country and the only one you would deal with to buy, build and sell would be the government?

[harun]

27. +1, I think what he likes is one party rule. We have two parties in the U.S. that compete

to win the love of the Corporations. In China it is only one party, a monopoly, no competition. Every CEO's dream.

[hatrack]

41. New Coke 2012 - With Extra Melamine & Ethelyne Glycol - Open Crappiness!!

I'm sure Coke and China will be very happy together.

:puke:

[Bonhomme Richard]

14. local governments are fighting for investment with each other.”

That's the ticket. Drive everything down to the lowest common denominator.

[peacetalksforall]

15. This looks like BS. This is one step in a plan. This is pure propaganda and a set-up.

The leaders of Coca and Pepsi - Colas both belong to the Bilderberg Group and their plan is to bring down U.S. labor wages and bring up China, India, Brazil so that the big corporations can make more money and the middle class in the U.S. is mostly gone so that they can make and control more money and citizens.

I say look for a Coca-Cola announcement soon for something that will hurt the working people of the U.S.

This country is already a corpocracy. Congress, except for a few, work for the corporations. Meaning - the corporation are the government. The propaganda is that they are pointing blame at the government just as a Teabagger would, but at a much higher level - the pinnacle of levels. This is a pre-announcement to warm up the crown. (However, when the Teabagger points and whines about the government, they are pointing and whining about liberals and the 'Mexicans' - the dissension is at work. They io

Be on the lookout.

I quality what I'm writing based on not reading the entire article because I refuse to register at more media sites. I believe I have read enough about the Bilderberg Group and their hundreds of sub-groups to recognize a set-up.

[peacetalksforall]

16. Many are going to give up Coke and Pepsi as soon as the Monsanto version of

corn syrup is in every bottle of Coke and Pepsi.

Gave up Coca Cola - best thing I ever did for myself. Gave it up when I heard about their participation in the Bilderberg Group.

[FarLeftFist]

20. CODE WORD for: Employees make 40 cents an hours.

[Me.]

21. Hey Muktar

Why not try India? Oh right you did and they didn't like the mess you made of their environment. So you go ahead to China and then once you've cut off your nose for a few extra pennies you'll find out what other businesses now know. They don't care a fig about YOUR bottom line and once they have you they will do the switch on the bait. Higher prices and bigger numbers is what they'll want for their services, for a workforce that isn't nearly as good as what you had here, if they can supply workers in the first place. A fact which is the result of their one baby rule.

[orwell]

22. OMG...

...What will I ever do without that bubbly brown sugar water to rot my teeth...

[mac56]

24. This will come back to haunt him.

Bank it.

[tabasco]

25. Take your shit to China then, pal.

Americans can drink something else.

[matt819]

28. Coke financials

Someone with more time than I have might want to take a look at Coke's financials, year to year, beginning with Clinton in 1993. In which administrations did Coke do better?

[UpInArms]

29. hey Muhtar! Take your high fructose corn syrup (made by ADM)

and shove it up China's arse.

[taught_me_patience]

32. I guess he's not satisfied selling sugar water for 1000% profit

I hope he and his family move to China.

[muntrv]

33. Yeah Muhtar Kent! Americans won't work for the wages they pay in China!

[Bigmack]

34. Coca Cola paid $470 million in US income taxes...

in 2010.... that's down from $691 million in 2008.

As near as I can tell... that's on a $38 Billion income..

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_much_money_did_coca_cola_make_in_2010

If that's true.. they paid .012% income tax in the US.

It's hard to sort out all the numbers... maybe the $38 Billion includes foreign income.... I dunno.

I do know they pay a shitload of taxes overseas. I guess they just don't like to pay US taxes....

"The Caymans have no corporate income tax for companies incorporated there. The Caribbean island has helped scores of U.S. companies, including Coca-Cola Co. and Oracle Corp., to legally avoid billions in tax payments to the U.S. government..."

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aWoQkk2WY1oc

[Blacksheep214]

36. Poor little rich bastard

I wonder if he fired his lobbyists or gave them bonuses for failure?

I like club soda with a squeeze of Key Lime. No sugar or calories.

I am so tired of these pricks crying all the time. Boycott and tell 'em where to shove it!

[benld74]

39. GO! LEAVE! MOVE to CHINA!!!

We will see where you are at in the world economy in a few short years! When the government takes over your business lock stock and barrel. Where your pure water, will NOT be pure! WHere your lead in the cola wars will shrink!
You low lifes! THIS is why I drink Pepsi!

[AlbertCat]

40. It’s like a well-managed company, China,

Yeah.... a well managed oppressive dictatorship of a company (known for cheap crappy products).

:crazy: :crazy: :crazy: