Bernie Sanders slams Amazon, Netflix over failure to pay taxes
Former White House Communication Director Anthony Scaramucci, Fortune executive editor Adam Lashinsky, “FBN:AM” co-host Lauren Simonetti and Kadina Group president Gary B. Smith weigh in on Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s, D-Mass., argument that corporate tax loopholes allow Amazon to pay nothing in taxes.
Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders took aim at large corporations on Monday, including streaming company Netflix and e-commerce giant Amazon, for not paying their fair share in taxes.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AMZN | AMAZON.COM INC. | 202.61 | -8.87 | -4.19% |
| NFLX | NETFLIX INC. | 823.96 | -13.30 | -1.59% |
“I happen to believe … that we have an absurd tax system,” Sanders told Fox News’ Bret Baier of “Special Report” and Martha MacCallum of “The Story” during a townhall on Monday. “While millions of people today are paying actually more in taxes than they anticipated, Amazon, Netflix and dozens of major corporations, as a result of Trump’s tax bill, pay nothing in federal taxes. I think that’s a disgrace.”
He also slammed CEO Jeff Bezos, without mentioning him by name, just as "the richest person in this country" who owns the e-commerce giant.
Sanders went on to say that large corporations making billions of dollars in profit should be required to pay higher taxes.
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act lowered the corporate tax rate by 14 percentage points, to 21 percent.
Amazon, specifically, has come under fire during recent days for a report that it paid no federal income taxes throughout the past two years.
Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren unveiled a proposal last week targeting companies’ corporate profits. She specifically cited Amazon as an impetus behind the proposal, which she named among companies that find loopholes in the tax code that allow them to pay no federal income taxes, despite raking in billions in profits.
In response to the legislation and the report, Amazon issued a statement saying that it paid “all taxes” it is required to in the U.S. and in “every country” where it operates.
Warren fired back, defending her stance, saying “you made $10 billion in profits last year and you were required to pay $0 in federal corporate taxes. That’s the problem.”
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Amazon did not return FOX Business' request for comment on Monday.
A spokesperson for Netflix said it is "inaccurate to say that we paid $0 in federal income taxes in the U.S. in 2018."
Sanders also released his tax returns on Monday, which showed that he made $1 million in 2016 and 2017 – which the senator attributed to the success of his book “Our Revolution.”