When reports come out about Amazon paying little to no taxes, it always creates some popular angst. At first glance, it appears corrupt or wrong to see such a large company paying less in taxes than average taxpayers. But Amazon reduces its tax liability by taking advantage of deductions that are good policy — in fact, Amazon's strategy of aggressively taking advantage of these deductions are proof that the deductions are having their desired effect in encouraging positive corporate behavior.
Joe Biden reignited the debate with a tweet directed at Amazon that stated that “no company pulling in billions of dollars of profits should pay a lower tax rate than firefighters and teachers.” Amazon quickly fired back,tweeting: “We've paid $2.6B in corporate taxes since 2016. We pay every penny we owe. Congress designed tax laws to encourage companies to reinvest in the American economy. We have. $200B in investments since 2011 & 300K US jobs. Assume VP Biden's complaint is w/ the tax code, not Amazon.”
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