• Tja@programming.dev
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    15 hours ago

    It might not pay any Belgian taxes, claiming it makes no profit (because of fees paid to the US).

    • Wanpieserino@lemm.ee
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      15 hours ago

      Hmmmmm, we don’t really aim at having them pay corporate taxes. They invest their capital, which increases the labour’s value here. The higher wages cause for more labour taxes or consumption taxes. Hence our tax revenue increases.

      If they do transfer pricing, they would have to be insane to send it to USA. They’d rather send it to tax havens.

      The EU does their effort to counter transfer pricing.

      Even if it fails, their capital investment causes our country to gain profit.

        • Wanpieserino@lemm.ee
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          6 hours ago

          For example this place: they have to rent this area in the center of the capital. That’s not cheap for them. There’s plenty of employees inside the restaurant.

          • Tja@programming.dev
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            1 hour ago

            But if burger King wasn’t there, another restaurant would be in that place, paying that rent and salaries. There’s nothing unique about burger King that creates net new jobs. They didn’t build that building. Or anything for that matter. They don’t have some kind of unique technology or product. They don’t enable any new processes or offer new capabilities to anyone. If that place was owned by “aunt Marie Burgers and Frites” it would be a net positive for the area and the country.

            • Wanpieserino@lemm.ee
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              10 minutes ago

              Money coming inside of Belgium is a good thing. It funds development. This building has a renter. Aunt Marie burgers and frites’ money is being used elsewhere in the country for other development.

              The pie got larger.

              China became relevant because of foreign capital. Nothing else.

              We should motivate foreigners to pour their capital into Europe.