The Motley Fool: Amazon Is a Master of Tax Avoidance
media mentionUntil the stock’s recent dive, Amazon was the second-most valuable company in the country, worth nearly $800 billion and behind only Apple. However, the company paid no U.S. income taxes on a $5.6 billion in domestic profits last year thanks to a $789 million windfall from the new tax law, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.
During the five previous years, Amazon had an effective tax rate of just 11.4%, said the ITEP, compared to its traditional retail peers, who generally paid between 35% and 40%. While there are a number of reasons Amazon is one of the most powerful companies in the world, its ability to avoid taxes is one of the biggest and most often overlooked. Read more