Thread

1. simonw · 1790862939 · focus · HN ↗

   > Under a tax credit created in the 1980s to spur innovation, companies can get a rebate for supplies, but only if they are being tested in an experimental effort, not standard business operations. Meta is claiming that the costly A.I. computer chips it buys from companies, including Nvidia, are entitled to a taxpayer-provided discount as part of the experiment. [...]

   > The company started claiming the credit for the data centers two years ago. Since then, Meta’s savings from the credit have soared, trimming almost $4 billion off its tax bill last year, filings show.

   Yeah... as a US citizen and taxpayer I think I'd like that $4 billion back.

   1. atomicUpdate · 1790867775 · focus · HN ↗

      > Yeah... as a US citizen and taxpayer I think I'd like that $4 billion back.

      It was never yours in the first place. It was their money they kept, not money given to them by the government. I don’t know why this distinction is so difficult for people.

      1. SmasherEpilepti · 1790868931 · focus · HN ↗

         Your tax burden is a responsibility to society, and not paying your share is benefiting from systems without carrying your own weight, effectively stealing from the system.

         > I don’t know why this distinction is so difficult for people.

         It's only a distinction if you don't understand what the purpose of taxes are.

      2. mindslight · 1790871768 · focus · HN ↗

         Corpos are inherently government creations. It's utterly fallacious to apply individualist libertarian thinking to them. This is not a case of a noble individual suffering the drag of a government they'd rather distance themselves from! Rather what we have here is an artificially-designated group that only exists because of the government, enthusiastically wielding the power of government for their own benefit, but then choosing a position that the outsized benefits they receive from that system are still not enough to contribute back.

         1. robocat · 1790988844 · focus · HN ↗

            Governments and businesses are symbiotic.

            You could just as equally say that governments are created by businesses and that governments feed by taxing corporations.

            You can frame it either way to make an argument from either direction.

            We mostly argue that businesses depend upon our government because reasons.

            1. mindslight · 1790992852 · focus · HN ↗

               I said corpos specifically, not businesses. I don't disagree with anything you've said, but I don't really see how it's relevant to what I said?

               Maybe it could be a stronger way of saying what I said? Pointing out that government wouldn't be taxing us in the first place without businesses willing it into existence?

               But this feels a bit too reductive in that it dilutes the motivation to business in general rather than specific businesses.

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