Understanding Amazon's Tax Situation

Recently, it was reported that the giant corporation, Amazon, was likely to pay no or very little taxes for tax year 2018. When people heard this news, they were upset and confused. After all, Amazon brings in huge U.S. profits. It seems like the company would have to pay taxes.

However, the company is smart and knows how to play its cards right, at least as far as its bottom line is concerned. By taking careful advantage of various tax rules, deductions, and more, they have legally enabled themselves to pay well below the standard corporate tax rate for several years now.

While some people think Amazon is absolutely brilliant for its clever manipulation of the rules, others feel the company’s maneuvers are unfair or unethical. However, the company has operated within the bounds of tax law, which leads some to look at Amazon’s tax status as merely a symptom of a bigger problem- a failed tax system full of loopholes. Of course, there are still others who think that Amazon’s situation is proof of a working tax system that helps companies to invest in their own interests and grow the economy in the process.

Whatever your take on the issue and what it says about our country may be, at least consider this: we can all learn a lot from Amazon as individual and/or business taxpayers. If Amazon teaches us anything, it’s that we can work the tax law to our advantage in powerful ways, all without getting ourselves in trouble or doing anything illegal.

To start working the tax laws to your advantage, however, you first have to know what they are. That’s where doing your own research and hiring the right professional tax help comes into play. Do those things, and you, like Amazon, could find yourself paying a lot less in taxes than you ever imagined.