So, Netflix paid no federal taxes AND they're raising my monthly fee

[Yavin4]

What's next? They can kick me in the nuts once a month?

[irisblue]

1. Taxes are for little people, not corporations.

[llmart]

11. Corporations are people except for when it comes to paying taxes.

[Doodley]

2. Corporate welfare, or should I say socialism for billionaires, at its very best.

[ksoze]

3. $13 a month for that much content is worth it.

For about 45 cents a day increase, I'll get over it. Maybe even take a kick a month.

[snowybirdie]

4. Just cancelled

Raising fees to make progressively less watchable series. Just not worth it anymore.

[Demsrule86]

25. I actually think the Netflix new series are really good. I like tv. I pay $58.00 for playstation vue

Also. We also get Acorn,prime and hulu....got shudder yesterday as they have a new show...A discovery of witches...really good. The books are great too. I ordered Showtime and HBO as hubs is having more surgery. He had a neck occlusion which was destroying his spine and his nerves and the operation in January was a huge success; He has one on his spine in the lower back and will have surgery tomorrow. 30 Years of working in a factory. Fingers crossed! The doctor expects a full recovery. TV will keep my workaholic husband amused during 6 to 8 weeks of recovery.

[PBC_Democrat]

5. Actually, I have no problem with them paying no federal tax ...

Last edited Tue Apr 16, 2019, 10:39 PM - Edit history (1)

They employ over 7,000 people with an average salary of $104,000
The company is 46% female
They offer unlimited parental leave
People want to work there more than at other major tech companies

I bought NFLX @ $57 ...it's now at $359, up 3% today

A high corporate tax rate reduces the money available to hire more employees, more talent, and to fund more projects.

Netflix is going to spend $15,000,000,000 (yep, 15 billion) on original content in 2019
That a lot of writers, actors, producers, and other artists working and paying taxes.

I'd rather have people working and supporting their families and paying taxes.

[Yavin4]

6. So, all of the massive public infrastructure that Netflix uses to generate that revenue...

can all rot and die, no?

And no, I don't give them credit for offering good benefits to their employees. In a just world, ALL employees would get those benefits at a min.

Just because some slave owners didn't beat, rape, and torture their slaves does not justify the institution of slavery.

[fescuerescue]

8. Actually the vast majority of that infrastructure is private.

For what little is left of their DVD mailing system, that does use the USPS, but that business is nearly dead and is losing money.

Streaming however, utilizes private carriers, and is displayed on private TVs.

Heck now that you bring it up, it's probably uses public infrastructure the least of just virtually and large company that I can think of.

[Yavin4]

10. So, the public schools that educated their workforce. The court system that protects their IP.

The financial system that maintains the value of their currency. The roads/bridges that enable their employees to commute to their place of work. The vast networks of physical public infrastructure, airports, bridges, roads, police, etc. that their projects use to make content.

Screw all of that stuff because it's streamed?

[Doodley]

13. I agree. It is a question of the sort of country we want to live in. Do we want to live in a country

with poverty and a lack of healthcare for tens of millions of people, while companies that make hundreds of millions ore billions in profit pay no federal taxes?

[PBC_Democrat]

18. The corporation doesn't use any of those items ...

The employees do
The employees pay income taxes, gas taxes, vehicle registration taxes, sales taxes, property taxes, and a host of local taxes in addition to adding service and support jobs to the local economy.

The employees need produce, meat, car repairs, and a litany of other services. That helps local business keep people employed.

I haven't seen anything that indicates that Netflix has broken any laws or illegally avoided taxes.

Netflix use current tax law and deductions, just as you and I do, to minimize their tax burden.

I reject the idea the idea they don't pay taxes, they just don't pay them directly.

[Yavin4]

22. So, Netflix doesn't use the court system. Netflix's productions/execs don't use highways, airports

Netflix doesn't need their currency protected. I could go on.

[Blue_true]

44. Netflix, like Anazon piled up massive losses over many years.

They now are writing those losses off against ever increasing profits. At some point, if they stay profitable, the loss carry forwards will be exhausted and they will pay a lot in taxes.

[fescuerescue]

21. Well if you wanna move the goal post. Ok

Pretty much everything under the sun should be paying more taxes.

[hunter]

38. Curiously, Netflix uses Amazon's cloud infrastructure.

And the internet fiber structure is largely private, a lot of it running along private railroad infrastructure.

So the historical precedence is great. The internet is considered to be a good thing, just as the railroads were, just as telegraphs were, and later long distance phone companies like AT&T were, even though they are largely private.

I have much larger concerns about the way we use the public airwaves, especially radio, television, and cell phones.

Too much radio and television is a brain damaging sewer of right wing propaganda, bullshit religion, and toxic advertising. The only radio I listen to is our local public radio station, which I contribute to. I don't watch any television but Netflix and DVDs.

The cell phone companies, cable companies, etc., all have strong lobbies fighting publicly owned internet projects, and competition from smaller, independent providers and broadcasters.

[Yavin4]

39. The streaming portion is only one part of their business model.

Every Netflix movie/TV show that they green light uses physical infrastructure, roads, bridges, airports, etc.

[Doodley]

12. Are you kidding? Millions don't have healthcare and it's okay for the biggest corporations to pay

no federal taxes? Suppose there was an even and fair playing field and no corporations payed federal taxes. The Republican solution would be to slash Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and all safety net programs. Is that what you want?

[essme]

14. When I am teaching staff at my school

about Fair Use-- one of the first things I say is "Do NOT use your private Netflix account to show a video."

The second thing I say is "no Disney."

Neither of these companies make it easy for public school teachers to show instructional videos, or videos of movies that are based on popular books.

[Yavin4]

15. And if you did use their content, they would use the court system to sue you.

A court system that they don't pay taxes for.

[essme]

32. Yep

Those two corporations are not at all concerned with community, education, infrastructure--- nothing. Money- that's it.

[PBC_Democrat]

45. I don't thnk you're anywhere near correct on this

The companies need safe communities with good roads and schools for their employee's children.

Without these things in place, people move away and they can't attract the talented people they need to grow the company.

Think of the worst city to live in the U.S. (no clue which one it is) -- would you move your family there for a job?

I wouldn't.

[miyazaki]

19. You mean 15 billion.

15 million is chicken scratch in the movie industry. One Hollywood A-lister can make that in a single film.

Of course to me half or more of Netflix original content is crappola but what do I know.

[brewens]

7. I dumped DISH and went all streaming. So far I only par for Netflix. I figured I'd get through

the tv series and movies I'm really interested in, then drop them and try Amazon Prime. I'm really only missing a little of the sports coverage I had before.

The whole point is to save about $50 a month and I'm really just as happy. There is quite a bit of free stuff as long as the commercials don't bother you. Going into it, I figured it might not last long. They will try and get most of that 50 back.

[Codeine]

9. Netflix is probably the best deal out there

as far as content per dollar is concerned. I switch streaming services all the time (just dumped Hulu for Criterion Channel, ferinstance) but I always keep Netflix.

The tax issue is entirely separate. I don’t like it, but they pay what they’re required to pay. I can’t expect them to pay more than legally required, can I? Congress needs to amend the tax codes so as to require large companies to pay more.

TL;DR: Don’t hate the player, hate the game.

[Beaverhausen]

16. Amazon not paying taxes pisses me off more

I hate shopping online and with all the stores closing and people losing jobs because of online shopping looks like we will all have to submit.

[mnhtnbb]

31. I went to three stores last week looking for a full length mirror

to either stand against the wall in my closet or hang over a door. Nothing. Ended up ordering on-line from Bed Bath and Beyond a product that was NOT carried in stores.

Even when you try to support local stores, it doesn't work.

[bdamomma]

17. Sucks

doesn't it, unless we boycott them, but their programs are addicting.

[cbdo2007]

20. They could raise their price to $29.99 and not lose

A significant amount of subscribers. I think higher than that though people will start bailing, so expect more price increases for the next decade or so, lol.

[SoCalNative]

34. For that price

or higher I think that they would have to go the Hulu route and add a Live TV route, otherwise I doubt many people would keep them. I know that I wouldn't. I rarely watch Netflix these days as it is.

[melm00se]

23. Netflix does pay taxes

but not to US governments. As you can see from below Netflix paid $133 million in foreign taxes on foreign revenue:



when any entity pays taxes to a foreign government, current tax law allows that to be taken as either a credit or an itemized deduction for those taxes.

[Yavin4]

24. Amazing.

And we wonder why our life expectancy rate is dropping compared to other developed countries.

[Demsrule86]

26. Corporations will pay what is required so blame Trump and the Republicans.

[melm00se]

28. To be honest

I don't know how other countries deal with foreign revenue and foreign taxes paid. Without that information I am not sure that you can draw your conclusion.

As to specifically why US life expectancy is dropping, the evidence and consensus is an increase in opioid use/abuse.

[Honeycombe8]

43. Well, the documents reflect what was paid.

If Netflix had gotten credits in those other countries, lowering its taxes there, the numbers on the U S return would reflect that. If Netflix did get credits, the numbers reported on the return are the final numbers, after all deductions & credits.

[jberryhill]

27. It's cheaper if you let them do it twice a month

I was on the “kick you in the nuts once a month” plan for a while, but if you prepay annually and go to twice a month, it’s a much better deal.

[Skidmore]

29. You have a choice.

Either consume their product or find another you like.

[USALiberal]

37. +1000! Nt

[Yavin4]

40. But I don't have a choice as to whether they should pay taxes. n/t

[redstatebluegirl]

30. It was predictable that once they got everyone off cable and hooked they would increase the price.

[happybird]

33. Yep

At this point, paying for an ISP and a few streaming services costs the same as (or more than, depending on which services you use) just getting an Internet and TV bundle from the cable company.

[USALiberal]

36. Netflix has original content without commercials. And cheap. Nt

[Lancero]

42. If only.

My isp is $125 a month, for 1.5 that barely works.

They've also been advertising a upgrade to 3 for the past 4 years that they can't actually deliver on, and they've recently changed that to 6 which they also can't deliver on.

[USALiberal]

35. Or you can quit Netflix, no one is forcing you. Nt

[Yavin4]

41. When people ask, How are you going to pay for a Single payer health care system or more money

for education or for better infrastructure or for anything the benefits the public good, think about Netflix and other large corporations paying nothing at all on their profits.

That lost revenue damages our public sector. It's one of the prime reasons why public school teachers have to live in near poverty.

I don't care that Netflix is "cool" or that they have really good shows. it's shameful that they are allowed to not pay anything back to the public sector which allowed for them to create their wealth in the first place.