@Techmeme@techhub.socialIn Q2, "other income", mostly from investment gains, at Amazon and Alphabet totaled ~$121B after taxes and made up 66% and 71%, respectively, of profits (Jonathan Weil/Wall Street Journal)
https://www.wsj.com/finance/stocks/the-121
@stefan@gardenstate.socialI'm open to the idea that the California wealth tax is not the correct way to solve this problem. Yet I don't really hear any billionaire proposing and fighting for the "right way" to increase taxes on them.
@Mediagazer@mstdn.socialNetChoice sues Illinois to block taxes on large social media companies and on companies with over $1M in gross receipts from digital ad services (Heather Cherone/WTTW News)
https://news.wttw.com/2026/09/11/tech-group-sues-illinois-over-social-medi…
@cdarwin@c.imAs Social Security funds dwindle, some Republicans say it’s time to raise taxes
This summer,
Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio)
joined Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts)
in proposing to raise the payroll tax cap
so people with higher incomes pay more into the program.
Now the idea is emerging as an acceptable fix among other GOP lawmakers,
including Rep. Tom Cole,
the influential chair of the House Appropriations Committee.
The rare GOP c…
@45names@mastodon.social
@brian_gettler@mas.toPromise to raise taxes, especially on the obscenely wealthy, but on me too, and to invest the resulting funds in solid _PUBLIC_ institutions and infrastructure (not effin' subsidies for planet-destroying multinational corporations) and I will vote for you. It's really not that hard.
@memeorandum@universeodon.comRed States Are Racing to Roll Back Property Taxes (Wall Street Journal)
https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/red-states-are-racing-to-roll-back-property-taxes-bc0d6ea8
http://www.memeorandum.com/260812/p130#a260812p130
@Techmeme@techhub.socialStudy: Palantir's European units made €440.5M in 2024 revenue but reported sharply lower margins than its US operations, helping cut its European tax bill (Antoaneta Roussi/Politico)
https://www.politico.eu/article/palantir-funnels-earnings-us-avoids-e…
@wraithe@mastodon.socialWow, literal royalty paying more in taxes than some US Corporations. https://journa.host/@NatalieDavis/116816708824725444
@mxp@mastodon.acm.org @mxp@mastodon.acm.org @cdarwin@c.imShopify CEO Tobias Lütke,
whose company commands a market capitalization near $154 billion,
told his social media followers this week that a tax-tiered voting system
—one that would strip voting rights from anyone who pays no income tax
—would be a “good system.”
That two-word endorsement,
dropped into a viral thread,
has reignited a debate over wealth, power,
and democracy that most Americans thought was settled more than a century ago.
Th…
@45names@mastodon.social
@hex@kolektiva.socialDistinct legal existence:
This is a distinct legal entity, such as an LLC. Your "church" will need a governing body to run the legal entity it's formed under. However you decide to do this, it must be spelled out clearly in filing forms. There are a lot of ways to "govern" a community, and, since diversity allows evolution, I'm not going to describe any of them.
Basically, all you need is *some* legal incorporation. This is important for the legal aspect (if you are trying to subvert the legal framework within the legal framework). You will need this in order to own bank accounts and property collectively, and you may need this to remove or reduce the influence of the dominant system on your collective governance of finances and property.
If you, on the other hand, just have a communal squat that operates economically entirely in black markets then I don't know why you're reading this.
(Fun fact, which I'm skipping to because I don't want to forget it: As I understand it, The Church of the Subgenious skipped a lot of this by including "paying taxes" in their definition of their church. They pay their taxes every year, and the IRS rejects their payment, which proves they're a church. OK, back to what I was talking about...)
Edit: One thing I forgot about this. There must be *at least 3 /unrelated/ people* named on the legal documents. That is the minimum number to be a legal church.
@floheinstein@chaos.social"With my crypto system, you'll be rich in no time! I'm approaching a 7 figure income now, and thinking about moving to Switzerland to avoid taxes."
🇨🇭 : "OK, but don't expect any special treatment with such a low income."
@markhburton@mstdn.socialMore #ContinuityStupidity this from Paul Johnson.
'"Growth clearly is the number one priority."
'He said: "That requires a lot of really quite difficult decisions in terms of not just increasing taxes but reforming taxes, reforming welfare, focusing investment on the things that are actually likely to get you growth, radically changing regulatory and p…
@Mediagazer@mstdn.socialSources: several lawmakers are drafting a 20% federal tax credit for US film and TV production that could offset producers' taxes or be sold to other taxpayers (Gene Maddaus/Variety)
https://variety.com/2026/film/news/congress-draft-federal-film…
@lightweight@mastodon.nzoss.nzLabour's Sepuloni needs to be much more confident, and Labour needs to sell taxes, by explaining the nuances. That most people are not going to pay more. The number of taxes isn't the issue. It's the amount that people pay in aggregate. I think Labour is wimping out of its opportunity.
@memeorandum@universeodon.comMassachusetts mayor accused of using a pandemic loan to fund election campaign and pay his taxes (Michael Casey/Associated Press)
https://apnews.com/article/brian-depena-pandemic-fraud-lawrence-e6041e21144c19c9ca554cc2121a94ad
http://www.memeorandum.com/260814/p70#a260814p70
@scott@carfree.cityThank you SF Young Democrats for endorsing Prop I!! The kids are alright!
Join these beautiful young people in supporting our campaign to build affordable housing with no new taxes: #sfpol
@cdarwin@c.imPalantir Technologies,
one of the world’s most influential — and controversial — surveillance tech companies,
🔸enjoyed an effective tax rate of just 1.4% globally last year
🔸while paying no US federal income tax
despite recording substantial profits, an analysis released on Wednesday revealed.
The study, Who Pays for the Surveillance State?, was written by the Center for International Corporate Tax Accountability and Research (CICTAR)
in partnership with th…
@Sustainable2050@mastodon.energyIn the Netherlands, petrol is relatively expensive (due to taxes). But media often report on the 'recommended price' by Shell c.s., which is way above the average sales price.
Today, that is €2.61, while in real life, people pay an average of €2.33.
It's not because it's hard to find the average.
@davidaugust@mastodon.onlineA feature I'm in: Dependent's Day, a rom-com where she takes him as a dependent on her taxes and hilarity ensues.
If you're looking for a comedy: #film
@villavelius@mastodon.onlineThis must mean a fundamental change for taxes. No tax on income from labour any longer, as there will be so much less. Instead, tax primarily on capital assets will become inevitable.
https://www.theguardian.com/global-develop
@Techmeme@techhub.socialFilings: Apple paid Ireland $17B in taxes last year, after an EU court ordered it to pay €13B in back taxes; Apple paid $43B in corporate income taxes globally (Jamie John/Financial Times)
https://www.ft.com/content/65fb0ad1-e4d5-43be-9dcf-f7aba1bea3a6
@servelan@newsie.socialMissouri voters reject Amendment 5 to phase out income tax and expand sales taxes
https://krcgtv.com/news/local/missouri-voters-reject-amendment-5-to-phase-out-income-tax-and-expand-sales-taxes
@scott@social.linux.pizzathe state should double these payments. do not become another cautionary tale of underinvesting in water infrastructure.
https://share.google/v1Lg3zzlkPfyuA29o
@kurtsh@mastodon.socialGambling, cheating their own health programs, bad side hustles & blowing cash on Lambos, Bentleys & houses...
Then whining about "taxes" that pay for community police, fire, roads & schools?
▶️ NBA and NFL Players Have Lost Touch With Reality - FlightMike
https://youtube.co…
@jerome@jasette.facil.servicesI was in the Kawartha region this weekend and randomly drove down a road where I saw a bunch of unhinged signs about paying no taxes and MANY confederate flags.
We don't see a lot of those flags in Canada so I got curious.
Turns out the Guardian made an article on it.
https://www.
@markhburton@mstdn.social"It is just not true that there has been ‘profligate spending’ by governments on welfare, medicare and pensions, as the ‘bond vigilantes’ and mainstream economists claim. The only profligate spending, apart from the bailouts of banks and corporates, has been on defence combined with cutting taxes for the rich and corporations.."
Michael Roberts explains the bond panic.
@Techmeme@techhub.socialSources: an addendum to the bipartisan Clarity Act would force President Trump to divest from crypto businesses, letting him defer paying taxes on the gains (Bloomberg)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-08-06/trum…
@cdarwin@c.imDays before mail-in ballots arrive statewide,
Democrat Xavier Becerra and
Republican Steve Hilton
will face off Sept. 30 in California’s high-stakes governor’s race.
Voters will see sharply contrasting views on taxes, spending and California’s clashes with the Trump administration
as the state prepares to choose a successor to termed-out Gov. Gavin Newsom.
After weeks of Hilton accusing Becerra of ducking debates,
the nationally televised, hour-long …
@chiraag@mastodon.online
@simon_brooke@mastodon.scotSuppose a government created a new fiat currency paid only as a universal #BasicIncome to all residents, and levied highly progressive taxes on property which must be paid in this new currency.
Would this work to redistribute wealth, or would it merely drive up rents?
@portaloffreedom@social.linux.pizzaDid we say it's very expensive already?
I'm guessing is just below 1000$ which including taxes and euros it goes beyond the 1000 mark.
@45names@mastodon.social @memeorandum@universeodon.comThe hidden costs of low-tax states (Axios)
https://www.axios.com/2026/07/09/taxes-america-income-sales-taxes
http://www.memeorandum.com/260709/p27#a260709p27
@hikingdude@mastodon.socialSomeone recently complained about all the taxes we pay.
I said: "well, our social system want's to be paied, too. But okay, let's lower the taxes - which kind of services are you willing to give up?"
He responded with several services that OTHERS benefit from.
I let him talk and then said: "nono, what are YOU willing to give up, not what you want to take away from others? I mean, we want less taxes, so we give away sth"
... and then there was silence.
I think he got the point.
@cdarwin@c.imA team of researchers led by Democracy Now!’s Juan Gonzšlez
at the University of Illinois Chicago
recently released an in-depth study
on how, through a program called
"Tax Increment Financing" (TIF),
Chicago has spent some $16 billion
in property taxes it collected over the past 40 years
to fund downtown development.
The money was supposed to be used to eliminate urban blight.
”TIF funding has actually exacerbated economic ine…
@scott@carfree.cityCalifornians! Can I ask you to make two calls *TODAY BEFORE 5PM* or Thursday morning to protect affordable housing funds?
#AB736 is a bill being rushed through that would give rich real estate investors a tax cut, slashing housing funds in SF, Santa Cruz and LA and preventing other cities from raising revenue this way.
Call your Senator and Assemblymember at their capitol office - you can…
![Action Alert:
Cities like SF and Oakland rely on taxing luxury real estate sales to fund important public services, including affordable housing. But now, state legislators are hatching a backroom deal that would block that.
Voice bubble: "“As a [CITY] resident, I'm urging Senator/ Assemblymember [NAME] to reject AB 736. Transfer taxes provide vital revenue for affordable housing and public services.”](https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/carfreecitymain/media_attachments/files/116/807/437/695/210/037/original/2c4841c47afddb1c.png)
@servelan@newsie.socialHigher Social Security payroll taxes no longer taboo for GOP – Roll Call
https://rollcall.com/2026/09/03/higher-social-security-payroll-taxes-no-longer-taboo-for-gop/
@davidaugust@mastodon.online @cdarwin@c.imSpaceX reported Q2 2026 results with revenue of $7.8 billion versus $6.81 billion expected,
but the stock fell after the report.
It also posted adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization)
of $3.5 billion,
while heavy AI infrastructure spending drove a large AI operating loss and high capital expenditures
Following the earnings report, SpaceX's stock declined due to concerns over high capital expenditures and AI spending.…
@brian_gettler@mas.toMy Department has just published the most recent issue of its undergraduate journal. It's great! Included are student papers on women religious in 18th-century Montreal, trade and taxes in the English Commonwealth, Indigenous provisioning in the 18th-century fur trade, indentured labourers in Trinidad, gendered violence and women’s resistance in Postwar El Salvador along with a few other texts by faculty members.
Check it out!
@45names@mastodon.social @memeorandum@universeodon.comAs Social Security fund runs dry, some Republicans say it's time to raise taxes (Steve Thompson/Washington Post)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2026/09/08/social-security-fund-runs-dry-some-republicans-say-its-time-raise-taxes/
http://www.memeorandum.com/260908/p1#a260908p1
@servelan@newsie.socialGuess What Happened After New York Raised Taxes on the Rich? More Millionaires Moved In | Common Dreams
https://www.commondreams.org/news/nyc-second-home-tax
@Mediagazer@mstdn.socialIllinois Gov. JB Pritzker signs a state budget with new taxes on social media giants, digital ads, and prediction and crypto markets, all likely facing lawsuits (Mitchell Armentrout/Chicago Sun Times)
https://chicago.suntimes.com/springfie
@kexpmusicbot@mastodonapp.uk @45names@mastodon.social @Techmeme@techhub.socialIllinois Gov. JB Pritzker signs a state budget with new taxes on social media giants, digital ads, and prediction and crypto markets, all likely facing lawsuits (Mitchell Armentrout/Chicago Sun Times)
https://chicago.suntimes.com/springfie
@cdarwin@c.imDHS utilized a method that didn’t require approval from a judge,
only a sign-off from a DHS official.
It served Google an
"administrative summons" citing an arcane provision of federal law
– 19 USC 1509
– dealing with customs imports.
The provision gives the DHS broad power to inspect records in order to determine whether duties and taxes are being correctly levied on imported items.
It also instructed the recipients of the summons to kee…
@hacksilon@infosec.exchangeRE: https://infosec.exchange/@trailofbits/116838767362878404
By the way, this cool work was funded by the Sovereign tech Agency of Germany. Still one of the more impactful digital initiatives of Germany, which seems to be doing some very interesting work with our taxes - glad to see it.
@45names@mastodon.social @Techmeme@techhub.socialVirginia's Loudoun County hosts more than 250 data centers generating huge tax revenues, as it moves to slow construction in response to pushback from residents (Cecilia Kang/New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.c…
@memeorandum@universeodon.comAmerica's missing middle: The shrinking 45-64 population (Russell Contreras/Axios)
https://www.axios.com/2026/07/07/gen-x-population-shrinking-taxes-economy
http://www.memeorandum.com/260707/p4#a260707p4
@pixelpusher220@dmv.communityhttps://www.advocate.com/politics/national/texas-judge-religion-gay-lawsuit
"People cannot be made — cannot be forced into participating in things that they have a religious disagreement with," said attorney Hiram Sasser of First Liberty Institute, a conservative law firm that helped represent Hensley.
Have I told you about my long and deeply held religious belief about paying taxes?
Seriously 'Religion' needs to be excommunicated from public life. A *public servant/JUDGE* has no 'Religious Freedom Rights' about doing their damned job.
Don't like it? Step the fsck down.
@buercher@tooting.chThe result of Trumps war against Iran is that Iran can introduce taxes for the passage of the strait of Hormuz. Well done.
@losttourist@social.chatty.monsterUnexpected, but not unwelcome:
Millionaires including former footballer Gary Lineker and music producer Brian Eno have written to new prime minister Andy Burnham asking to be taxed more.
In an open letter, 120 well-off Britons told Burnham: "We can afford it. We're not talking about higher taxes on those who get up and go to work for their income every day, but on the very richest whose income is derived from the wealth they hold."
Organised by Patriotic Millionaires, the letter said it would lead to a more equal society, and urged a "devolution of wealth and power from the very richest".
#ukpol
@45names@mastodon.social @cdarwin@c.imThe National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA)typically passes in Congress each year with bipartisan margins.
But the $1.15tn defense policy billpassed in a near-party-line votein the House of Representatives on Wednesday has lawmakers on both sides of the aisle in an uproar.
That’s because the NDAA’s path to enactment this year has been complicated by the president’s decision to join Israel in attacking Iran without first seeking authorization from Congress
– a war that has…
@kexpmusicbot@mastodonapp.uk @cdarwin@c.imThis last week I proposed to the Board of Supervisors the creation of a SpaceX Launch Mitigation Fund for Santa Barbara county.
This would be created through $500,000 per commercial launch mitigation fee.
At 100 launches per year, this would generate $50 million annually in new revenue.
These funds would offset infrastructure strain, environmental impacts, public safety costs, and support community priorities
— without raising resident taxes.
– Each launch deli…
@45names@mastodon.social @memeorandum@universeodon.com25 states sue over Trump administration's latest tariffs, citing Supreme Court ruling (Associated Press)
https://apnews.com/article/tariffs-25-supreme-court-import-taxes-120895adbee7ae06157cd5f4bf5c7583
http://www.memeorandum.com/260803/p116#a260803p116
@cdarwin@c.imEconomic dignity in old age should be a promise — not a luxury.
We must strengthen Social Security.
It is the only large program that guarantees seniors a fixed monthly payment until they die,
but it is expected to become insolvent in just over six years.
That means raising taxes to shore it up.
And rather than encourage average Americans to sink their money into private equity funds and other exotic investments,
we should allow the Social Security Admini…
@45names@mastodon.social @45names@mastodon.social @memeorandum@universeodon.comDoes the Washington Post Want Democracy to Die in Darkness? (Michael Mechanic/Mother Jones)
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/08/jeff-bezos-washington-post-opinion-wealth-taxes-unrealized-gains-taxation-democracy-dies-darkness/
http://www.memeorandum.com/260803/p107#a260803p107
@45names@mastodon.social @memeorandum@universeodon.comMedicare-for-all means taxes-for-all (Megan McArdle/Washington Post)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/07/19/medicare-for-all-means-taxes-for-all/
http://www.memeorandum.com/260719/p6#a260719p6
@memeorandum@universeodon.comTariff revenue's $825B gap (Courtenay Brown/Axios)
https://www.axios.com/2026/07/24/tariffs-import-taxes
http://www.memeorandum.com/260725/p4#a260725p4
@BBC6MusicBot@mastodonapp.uk @memeorandum@universeodon.comThe IRS slashed its staff. One result? More taxes going uncollected (Scott Horsley/NPR)
https://www.npr.org/2026/09/02/nx-s1-5954022/irs-tax-collection-job-reductions
http://www.memeorandum.com/260902/p117#a260902p117
@memeorandum@universeodon.comBurnham Cuts Energy Bills Tax in First Cost-of-Living Help (Bloomberg)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-21/burnham-cuts-taxes-energy-bills-ease-cost-of-living-burden
http://www.memeorandum.com/260721/p7#a260721p7
@kexpmusicbot@mastodonapp.uk @memeorandum@universeodon.comThe IRS Is Imploding -- In many years of paying taxes, I've never had a problem with the IRS. (Stephanie Mencimer/Mother Jones)
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/07/the-irs-is-imploding/
http://www.memeorandum.com/260728/p80#a260728p80
