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Comment by csomar | Hacker News Reader

> Countries including France and the UK have accused firms of routing some profits through low-tax EU member states such as Ireland and Luxembourg.

This seems to be the problem. The EU laws have allowed these companies to avoid taxes. Small countries just next to France (Luxembourg) are able to help these companies. But France will not go against these countries and instead try to handle things through taxes.

I don't think this will workout greatly for France. France solution to everything seems to be: "Put a tax on it". The EU needs to get its crap together.

I don't like Tariffs. But if you worked internationally you should know that the US is one of the most open countries when it comes to doing business. You can open a company, a bank account, get a tax ID, buy shares in US companies, trade, etc...

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The UK accuses firms of routing profits through low-tax EU member states?

Did they mention Jersey, Guernsey, Isle of Man + Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Gibraltar, Turks and Caicos Islands?

Well, I suppose they aren't EU member states, carry on.

Same with France: Monaco. That's why I said they got to get their shit together.

Monaco is not part of France.

> But France will not go against these countries and instead try to handle things through taxes.

France cannot change Luxembourg's business model (help tax evasion in neighboring countries, live off of EU subsidies), it has no jurisdiction there. They can change their tax code though.

Get a bank account? If you are not a US resident, good luck with that. And i dont know what a company will be good for without a bank account.

As for buying shares in the US, there is a 30pct tax for non-resident alien.

>The EU laws have allowed these companies to avoid taxes

It's the lack thereof. Regulators / Lawmakers aren't paid thousands by the hour to find and cover loopholes, and also cannot see the future. Unlike a Google, who is willing to pay someone millions to find loophole. It's a one-sided battle that giant corporations will always win.

>I don't think this will workout greatly for France. France solution to everything seems to be: "Put a tax on it". The EU needs to get its crap together.

EU or France, which is it? This initiative is coming out of France, not the EU. What did the EU do wrong this time? Did you forget that the EU is what enables these corporations to easily enter and seamlessly expand within one of the largest shared economies? If it wasn't for the EU, the work companies would have to expand would exponentially increase, due to many different regulations, taxation, tariffs, etc.

You are somehow using the protectionist actions of a member of the EU to paint the EU as the roadblock/point of incompetence, when really it does the exact opposite.

>>> buy shares in US companies

That is not quite correct actually.

You have to pay US taxes on US shares, doesn't matter where you are. They can be quite high, something like 30% of yearly profit. Then you have to pay local taxes too, that can be significant as well.

This makes US shares non viable for most Europeans. The double taxation makes them worthless.

You have to file a federal tax return to get an ITIN in US. And there's a lot of taxes that US leverages...

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