Amazon Doesn't Want to Pay Tax That Would Create Low Income Housing in Seattle
Source: Think Progress
- Amazon Puts 7,000 Jobs on Hold Because of a Tax That Would Help Seattle Homeless Population. Amazon contributed to the housing crisis in Seattle, and now it doesn't want to do anything about it.
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has more money than he knows what do deal with. While visiting Germany in late April to pick up the Axel Springer Award for innovation, Bezos gave an exclusive interview to Business Insider about how it feels to be the richest man in the world. Bezos, who has a net worth of $130.8 billion, told the outlet that the only logical way to spend his money is by funding space tourism through his spaceflight company, Blue Origin. "The only way that I can see to deploy this much financial resource is by converting my Amazon winnings into space travel. That is basically it, Bezos said.
What Bezos does not want to spend money on at all is helping the homeless population in the city where his company is located. On Wednesday, Amazon announced the company would halt the construction of a new building in downtown Seattle it was planning to build, jeopardizing some 7,000 jobs. Why? Because the company opposes a tax being considered by the City Council.
<A large number of Amazon workers rely on food stamps for assistance.>
The tax targets 500-600 businesses in the city that gross at least $20 million a year. The companies would be charged a head tax at $500 per employee. In 2021, the head tax would be replaced by a 0.7 percent payroll tax. The payroll tax would windup costing Amazon more than the initial head tax, considering Seattle Amazon employees are paid about an average of $110,000 per year, according to data from job-reviews site Glassdoor.
I can confirm that pending the outcome of the head-tax vote by City Council, Amazon has paused all construction planning on our Block 18 project in downtown Seattle and is evaluating options to sub-lease all space in our recently leased Rainer Square building, a spokesperson for Amazon told The Seattle Times. The city council is expected to vote on the tax on May 14.
The city estimates the tax would raise an estimated $75 million annually, with Amazon paying roughly $20 million in 2019 and 2020. One might think for a company that pulled in $1.6 billion last quarter, they could afford to help out the city of Seattle and its most vulnerable residents, especially considering the extent to which Amazons presence in the city has exacerbated the housing crisis there.
Since 2010, when Amazon opened its first headquarters in the South Lake Union area of Seattle, housing costs have skyrocketed. The median cost of a single-family home has more than doubled to $820,000, and rents have increased 64 percent, according to the Seattle Times. The average two-bedroom home in Seattle costs more than $2,000 per month. Only a third of condominiums in Seattle are priced below $500,000.
Read more: https://thinkprogress.org/amazon-doesnt-want-to-pay-tax-that-would-create-low-income-housing-in-seattle-80f7177dfab4/
Pub. May 3, 2018, 3:06 PM
turbinetree
(24,703 posts)his narcissistic ego.....................I hate amazon and do not use them....................these three people are richer than over 165 million people in this country alone......................
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/nov/08/bill-gates-jeff-bezos-warren-buffett-wealthier-than-poorest-half-of-us
and this "company paid not one cent in tax in 2017..................Fuck them
https://www.seattlepi.com/business/tech/article/Amazon-paid-no-US-income-taxes-for-2017-12713961.php
appalachiablue
(41,146 posts)appalachiablue
(41,146 posts)Town & Country, "Jeff Bezos is Renovating the Biggest House in Washington, DC," April 24, 2018.
The mansion was built in 1912 by architect John Russell Pope. It was was the former Textile Museum. The property is located at 2320 S St. NW, in the Kalorama neighborhood where the Obamas and other prominent residents live off Mass. Ave., near Embassy Row.
Plans for *25 Bathrooms are raising questions; 10 Bedrooms, 27,000 sq. ft., $23 Mill. purchase.
https://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/real-estate/news/a9234/jeff-bezos-house-washington-dc/
Gilded Age, Part II
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2014/05/08/thomas-piketty-new-gilded-age/
SergeStorms
(19,202 posts)Perfect for the guy who's full of shit.
appalachiablue
(41,146 posts)DeminPennswoods
(15,286 posts)tax breaks and other incentives to get Amazon's HQ2. This is why I don't and won't patronize Amazon.
Bengus81
(6,931 posts)Of course like they all do they kissed Amazon ass and gave them the sun and the moon with a ten year term limit. Once that was getting close to being USED up they started looking around and blew town in 2014. They moved up toward the KC area and told the small town of Coffeyville later days.
"Amazon has announced that it will close its giant distribution warehouse near Coffeyville in February, after turning down a multimillion-dollar incentive package to stay. Hundreds of employees worked at the 915,000-square-foot warehouse. Local officials are still trying to find out the exact number, but at one time it employed 1,000 full-time workers. One of southeast Kansas largest employers, Amazon took over the warehouse in an industrial park north of Coffeyville in 1999, amid warm welcomes and generous financial incentives from state and local officials."
The local impact of this and other recent job losses is painful for the community, said Jeff King, R-Independence, vice president of the Kansas Senate and an attorney in Coffeyville. Its devastating, especially for the families impacted, he said. There is not a resident of Coffeyville or Montgomery County that hasnt been affected.
Corgigal
(9,291 posts)no disrespect but you sound kind of sad. Not to give one damn about humanity.
Just what we all need, another rich guy who believes he owes nothing for the unfortunate. Thankfully, I'm more inspired. Guess I won't be rich, then good.
Hong Kong Cavalier
(4,573 posts)And he can't think of anything to spend his money on. At all.
Besides space tourism for the uber-rich.
The fact that he also calls the money "winnings", like it's some sort of goddamn lottery, is almost insulting.
Jedi Guy
(3,193 posts)He didn't win big at the slots. He was enriched by the labor of thousands of his employees (some of whom rely on food stamps) and the purchases of millions of his fellow human beings. But rather than help those people, let's send bored rich assholes into space.
What kills me is that if he did things like solve the water crisis in Flint or any number of other worthy humanitarian causes, Amazon's sales would skyrocket even higher because people would feel good about supporting a company and individual who pays it forward.
As it is, I won't buy a damn thing from his company, even if that means I have to pay more for it. Fuck you, Jeff, you're not getting my "winnings" when you have so much of your own to play with. Enjoy space. Maybe just stay there.
Hong Kong Cavalier
(4,573 posts)...and did something like fix the Flint water crisis.
The PR on that alone would be insanely positive for him.
appalachiablue
(41,146 posts)alwaysinasnit
(5,066 posts)please buy local and avoid enabling of Amazon's exploitation of workers. Thanks
CountAllVotes
(20,876 posts)alwaysinasnit
(5,066 posts)CountAllVotes
(20,876 posts)PaulX2
(2,032 posts)His job is simply greed. Making money for himself and his stockholders. Letting others suffer the consequences.
People like Bezos should be taxed, not worshiped.
Nothing personal Jeff.
Greed is not all good.
Maybe if Amazon leaves, housing may return to affordability.
Get The F Out Of My City Greedy Assholes.
CountAllVotes
(20,876 posts)A sickening creature with a sickening company.
I hope it rots in hell!
BOYCOTT amazon.com as they truly suck!
Bengus81
(6,931 posts)With just 50B of his wealth in an account making just 8% he would make 4 billion more per year. Wonder how many low income homes or people you could help??
Show how pathetic it gets,the more the BILLIONS roll in the less these asshats want to help.
Bengus81
(6,931 posts)I had that shipping when it was 75.00 and canceled when he raised in in one year to 99.00. Jesus....this asshat is going to show Walmart a thing or two on how to make billions and pay employee's BS wages and BITCH about every tax he's asked to pay. But...Bezos is going to send rich fucks into space with his money!!!
Smickey
(3,329 posts)from 99.00 to 119.00 as of May 11.
Bengus81
(6,931 posts)He pissed me off enough with that raise I got after having Prime for just a year. Plus it seems like less and less is covered by that offer. Peeps would really be nuts to pay the newest raise.