Amazon

[MillauFr]

We have prime but are not renewing this year, especially when I saw that Amazon does not pay ANY tax at all and makes billions a year. Disgusting!!!

You can't blame them for having their HQ in Washington State. Any company can do it and many have. It is the best state in the country for high income earners to avoid paying taxes. We have the most inequitable tax structure of any state in the country by far. Low income residents here pay a far higher % of their income in taxes than high income earners.

 

[Luvdancink]

We use amazon a lot. We use the subscribe and save feature so we only buy household items if we have at least 5 things so we can save the 15% plus we have an amazon visa so we save an extra 5%. THats in topnof whatever promotions or coupons they might have for things we buy. Outside of that we can get stuff in 2 days if we’d truly need something. If I don’t need it quickly I usually deny the 2 day shipping and take the offered digital credit. I put those towards tv subscriptions since we don’t have cable so I can watch my shows for free.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

We have prime but are not renewing this year, especially when I saw that Amazon does not pay ANY tax at all and makes billions a year. Disgusting!!!

Do you not take advantage of all the savings opportunities you have as well?

 

[Ephany]

Items on Amazon aren't always cheaper but living in a semi-rural area much of my savings is in time. Say DD needs X for a project and needs it by the weekend. I can wait until my one day off a week, drive 25-45 minutes to a store and hope it is in stock. Or, I look on Amazon, order what I need and boom, it's there in 2 days. There is a locker about 45 minutes away so if I really need it that day or the next, I can drive to the locker, pick it up and not have to drive from store to store when they're open and hoping they have it in stock.

 

[kandb]

Do you not take advantage of all the savings opportunities you have as well?

What? I pay a lot of tax on my salary every week that I am working. Don't think Amazon is paying much tax on the billions of profit they make. ANY company that makes billions, should be paying tax, just like us working people.

 

[kandb]

I always pay sales tax on the stuff I order from Amazon, but I live in WA and there's Amazon stuff all over the place so they have to collect it. I'm not sure if it's what the new story is about, but I know previously it had to do with whether Amazon had a physical location in the state, like a distribution center. If they didn't they weren't required to collect sales tax, but I think that's the case for a lot of online businesses. Which also leads to the question, do you pay tax on the stuff you buy from ebay or etsy? I don't recall it ever being something I needed to pay and I've bought from "businesses" on them not just someone cleaning the attic out.

YES, the customers are paying tax BUT is Amazon? Does Amazon pay tax to the federal government for the billions of profit it makes? I know my weekly paycheck has a lot of taxes taken from it BUT does a company like Amazon who makes billions in profit a year? I know customers are paying taxes but is Amazon??? There is a bit difference.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

YES, the customers are paying tax BUT is Amazon? Does Amazon pay tax to the federal government for the billions of profit it makes? I know my weekly paycheck has a lot of taxes taken from it BUT does a company like Amazon who makes billions in profit a year? I know customers are paying taxes but is Amazon??? There is a bit difference.

Honestly I think the point was many companies out there do that. Now I have no idea but I doubt few people research each and every company that they purchase products from in regards to corporate tax and the rate they pay (whether less or not at all).

And it didn't used to be that Amazon collected tax from customers. It was an evolution in the online shopping world. I pay tax on Amazon but my neighboring state just started that in Jan of 2017. However, I don't pay tax through my purchase on other things from Amazon where it's a 3rd party selling it and they aren't in my state.

 

[nordkin]

I buy all my diabetes supplies on Amazon. Most are from third party vendors. Example of the savings- 100 glucose test strips at the pharmacy ~$135 from Amazon ~$23. There is no excuse for there to be such a large difference. My diabetes supplies are not covered under my prescription plan so I pay and get reimbursed.

 

[afan]

YES, the customers are paying tax BUT is Amazon? Does Amazon pay tax to the federal government for the billions of profit it makes? I know my weekly paycheck has a lot of taxes taken from it BUT does a company like Amazon who makes billions in profit a year? I know customers are paying taxes but is Amazon??? There is a bit difference.

If this is really your main issue with shopping at Amazon you probably need to find independent/non chain stores to do all of your shopping at. All companies use the laws and loopholes in them to their advantage to pay the least amount of tax possible. Just as I have deductions and get a refund each year.

A company collects sales tax that is then paid to the city, county and state, they don't get to keep it for profit.

 

[DizMe]

I think if you stopped doing business with all corporations that have managed to avoid taxes, you would have to stop doing business with most of the major players. Maybe what would be fair is an across the board approach to reducing tax evasion, but I doubt that will happen any time soon and I'm certainly no expert. It's an interesting conundrum trying to determine who is ethically worthy in the business world and depends on each person's own criteria as well. It's difficult to figure out such things on our own and listening to what others say can be misleading as well. I think it's admirable to stick to one's principles but I think we are also at the mercy of those who would exploit us with misleading information.

 

[kaytieeldr]

We have prime but are not renewing this year, especially when I saw that Amazon does not pay ANY tax at all and makes billions a year. Disgusting!!!

You really should consider not trusting every single tweet.

 

[MillauFr]

What? I pay a lot of tax on my salary every week that I am working. Don't think Amazon is paying much tax on the billions of profit they make. ANY company that makes billions, should be paying tax, just like us working people.

What state do you live in??? If you are paying too much why don't you just move to Washington State so you can avoid paying taxes. If you make $300k+ here the state gives you a free ride. You only pay 1 or 2% of your income. We only like to generate tax revenue on people making less than $100k per year. Those people get to pay 20% of their income.

 

[afan]

What state do you live in??? If you are paying too much why don't you just move to Washington State so you can avoid paying taxes. If you make $300k+ here the state gives you a free ride. You only pay 1 or 2% of your income. We only like to generate tax revenue on people making less than $100k per year. Those people get to pay 20% of their income.

I live and grew up in WA and I don't understand any of this. We don't have a state income tax so what's based on income here other than federal taxes which aren't determined by the state. Everyone pays the same sales and gas tax. Property tax is based on your property value not your income. This makes no sense.

 

[MillauFr]

I live and grew up in WA and I don't understand any of this. We don't have a state income tax so what's based on income here other than federal taxes which aren't determined by the state. Everyone pays the same sales and gas tax. Property tax is based on your property value not your income. This makes no sense.

I live in Seattle that has some of the highest priced property in the state. I pay only 0.6% of the value of my house in property taxes per year. The people who live on the gold coast of Lake Washington where the average home price is $5m + pay even lower rates. On the other hand if you live in a low income area you are paying 2 - 3% of the value of your house in property taxes.

On sales taxes the lower income residents have to pay sales taxes on basic necessities. Higher income residents pay far less % of their income of sales taxes. This article explains it...

https://itep.org/whopays/washington/

Washington State is the best state in the country for the billionaires that live here.

 

[afan]

I live in Seattle that has some of the highest priced property in the state. I pay only 0.6% of the value of my house in property taxes per year. The people who live on the gold coast of Lake Washington where the average home price is $5m + pay even lower rates. On the other hand if you live in a low income area you are paying 2 - 3% of the value of your house in property taxes.

On sales taxes the lower income residents have to pay sales taxes on basic necessities. Higher income residents pay far less % of their income of sales taxes. This article explains it...

https://itep.org/whopays/washington/

Washington State is the best state in the country for the billionaires that live here.

Percentages are all relative, of course a billionaire is going to pay a smaller portion of their income to sales tax, because they don't spend that much. However if you look at the person making $10 bucks an hour vs the one making $1k an hour, they both pay the same amount of tax on that $50 pair of jeans but it's a different percentage of their income.

As for property taxes, they are based on what the city, school districts, counties, first responders, transit etc need. Some areas have higher needs but at the same time, again with the percentages, if a small community like Medina needs 2 million a year for their services then they figure out the percentage the high value homes need.

There's absolutely income disparity but percentages aren't necessarily the way I'm going to compare them. But this is all going to get too political if the conversation keeps going on.

 

[Tikitoi]

I liked that I was able to buy a gift card for a restaurant in Vegas (since well be there soon) with my Amazon gift cards.

 

[jen7233]

I really don't find great deals on Amazon. What I do like are the used books I can get, or the rare things I can't find around. And, Amazon digital movies for rent or purchase. I think the return policy is pretty good. I live in the middle of nowhere, basically, we have a Walmart and that's it. So big shopping is either an hour to two hours away, depending what shopping I need to do, so I tend to do a lot of shopping online. That's mainly what I use Amazon for though, what I described above, and typically will use up any reward points from my credit card on my purchase if I have points. Some prices though I find way too much on the site, so I do browse other sites first if it's something I think I may find at another store.

 

[Dakota731]

I always price check on Walmart.com and Walmart is almost always cheaper. Just yesterday I was looking at oil rubbed bronze accessories for my bathroom, and I was surprised that Walmart had the exact brand at a cheaper price. I used to buy from Amazon a lot, but prices have gone up and so many items are add on items which drives me crazy.

 

[snoodledoo]

im new to amazon. I heard so many good things about amazon about people saving money. I don’t see any good deals that will save me money. What I’m I missing? I put in a lot of things I use and almost everything is a higher price. I did order some toothpaste that’s about the same as I pay just to do it. WhAt have you found that is a good price?

I quickly looked at my most recent orders:
A personal fan - could have bought at Target but since it was a Lightning Deal (on an item I've been wanting to get) I saved $3-$4 and had it shipped to the house and saved time by not having to make the trip.
Kitchen faucet - time & $ saved over a trip to HD.
Hummingbird feeder & ant guard - I don't even know where I'd go for that - maybe Target or Walmart, but I'd rather just save myself a trip.
Phone case for DS - great selection and prices on amazon (saved myself from running around trying to find the exact one I want for the best price)
Nightlights - great selection and prices on amazon (saved myself a trip to the store)
Letter size desk trays - I priced them on staples and amazon was much cheaper (and delivered to my door)

So, convenience is a huge factor. I don't shop there for grocery items (other than specialty products I can't find nearby like a certain protein bar or something like that).

 

[Dakota731]

You really should consider not trusting every single post

This one does happen to be true https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.se...paid-no-US-income-taxes-for-2017-12713961.php
Though Amazon didn’t pay US fedeeel taxes they paid taxes to foreign countries