特朗普总统说亚马逊“没有或几乎没有交税”，他错在哪里？

上周四，美国总统唐纳德·特朗普在推特上抱怨说，在线零售巨头亚马逊“没有或者几乎没有向联邦和地方政府纳过税”。此言一出，亚马逊股价应声下跌。

然而，这番对亚马逊的指责表面上看是在为实体零售店说话，实际上却有误导作用。

虽然亚马逊以前只在它设有仓库和办公室的几个州纳税，但现在它的交税范围已全面覆盖45个征收消费税的州。

大选还遥遥无期时我就表达过对亚马逊的顾虑。和其他公司不同，他们没有或者几乎没有向联邦和地方政府纳税，而且让我们的邮政系统给他们当快递员（这给美国造成了巨大损失），还造成数以千计的零售商倒闭！

— 唐纳德·J·特朗普(@realDonaldTrump)，2018年3月29日

有一点特朗普说对了——智囊机构税收和经济政策研究所（ITEP）指出，亚马逊并未代表第三方供应商纳税，而且可能仍不缴纳某些地方税收，这让它在面对部分传统零售商时获得了优势。

ITEP的分析显示，某些地方政府部门征收的税率和亚马逊承担的税率之间存在差异，在阿拉斯加州荷马市，二者的差距高达7.5个百分点。

ITEP在亚马逊网站上填写了几十个送货地址，结果发现“相关分析表明亚马逊不在当地交税或税率低于当地零售商的州有七个（阿拉巴马、阿拉斯加、爱达荷、爱荷华、密西西比、新墨西哥和宾夕法尼亚）”。某些“地区由于联邦或地方法律的不恰当限制，不对出州甚至出城的交易征税。”

但ITEP也指出，下个月之后地方和联邦政府也许能更容易地征收此类税款，因为预计届时美国高等法院将重新检讨1992年奎尔公司（Quill）和家具电商Wayfair那场官司留下的判例。该案裁定零售商只需在它们有实体业务的州缴纳消费税。

上周四早些时候，白宫副新闻秘书拉什·沙阿做客福克斯新闻台的《Fox and Friends》节目时为特朗普的推特做了补充。

沙阿说：“现在还没有互联网消费税。”这句话让他在亚马逊纳税问题上也发挥了误导作用。“因此，亚马逊等公司就可以在做买卖时不缴纳基本的零售税，而零售店、便利店以及在座的各位都要缴这个税——当你走出演播室，然后去拿一些商品时，就得交税。这让实体零售店处于不利位置。”

尽管收盘时反弹了1%左右，但上周四盘中亚马逊股价一度下挫6%。

特朗普瞄上亚马逊或许还跟他和亚马逊创始人兼首席执行官杰夫·贝佐斯之间的不愉快有关。贝佐斯还拥有《华盛顿邮报》，而特朗普对这家媒体的报道感到不满，斥其为“骗子”和“假新闻”。

2016年5月，特朗普接受保守派访谈节目主持人西恩·汉尼提采访时说：“从税收角度讲，亚马逊就像是杀了人却逍遥法外。（贝佐斯）正在利用《华盛顿邮报》的力量，这样华盛顿政界人士就不会向亚马逊征收它应该缴的税。”

这并不是亚马逊的纳税行为首次成为攻击目标。尤其是欧洲政府，他们一直对亚马逊的公司所得税紧追不舍。比如，2月初亚马逊和法国政府就税收纠纷达成和解。虽未披露和解费用，但法国的目标接近2亿欧元（2.5亿美元）。同时，欧盟也以“非法税收优势”为由命令亚马逊向其缴纳2.94亿美元（2.5亿欧元）税款。另据报道，意大利也对亚马逊做出了类似指控。（财富中文网）

译者：Charlie

审校：夏林

In a move that sent Amazon’s shares reeling, President Donald Trump complained on Twitter Thursday that the online retail giant pays “little or no taxes to state & local governments.”

But his attack on the company, ostensibly in defense of brick-and-mortar retailers, was misleading.

Although Amazon had once collected sales tax in only a few states—those in which it had warehouses or offices—it now collects those taxes in all 45 states that have a sales tax.

I have stated my concerns with Amazon long before the Election. Unlike others, they pay little or no taxes to state & local governments, use our Postal System as their Delivery Boy (causing tremendous loss to the U.S.), and are putting many thousands of retailers out of business!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 29, 2018

Where Trump is correct: Amazon doesn’t collect taxes on behalf of third-party vendors, and it still may not collect some local taxes, giving it an advantage over some traditional retailers, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a think tank.

According to an analysis from the ITEP, the gap between the tax rate that some local tax jurisdictions impose and what Amazon collects can be as much as 7.5 percentage points in Homer, AK., for example.

“This analysis reveals that in seven states (Alabama, Alaska, Idaho, Iowa, Mississippi, New Mexico, and Pennsylvania), Amazon is either not collecting local taxes or is charging a lower tax rate than local retailers,” the ITEP found by entering dozens of shipping addresses into Amazon’s website. Some “localities, however, are not collecting tax from out-of-state or even out-of-town businesses because of problematic restrictions in state or local law.”

Though according to the ITEP, localities and states may have an easier time collecting those taxes after next month, when the Supreme Court is expected to revisit a precedent set by the 1992 Quill vs. Wayfair ruling. That ruling said that retailers must collect sales taxes only in states in which they have a physical presence.

Early Thursday, Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah added to the President’s tweet during a segment on Fox News’ Fox and Friends.

“Right now there is no internet sales tax,” said Shah, adding his own misdirection about Amazon’s tax collecting. “And as a result companies like Amazon can buy and sell goods without having to pay basic retail taxes that your stores and your convenience stores and all the folks around—when you walk out of the studio over there and grab something, you have to pay. And that puts brick-and-mortar retail stores at a disadvantage.”

Shares of the company fell as much as 6% in trading Thursday, though rebounded by about 1% by the day’s end.

Trump’s interest in Amazon may also be linked to his displeasure with Amazon founder and CEO, Jeff Bezos, who owns of the Washington Post. Unhappy with its reporting, Trump has accused the newspaper of being “phony” and “fake news.”

“Amazon is getting away with murder, tax-wise. (Bezos is) using the Washington Postfor power,” Trump said in a May 2016 interview with conservative talk show host Sean Hannity. “So that the politicians in Washington don’t tax Amazon like they should be taxed.”

This isn’t the first time that Amazon’s been in the crosshairs over its tax practices. European governments, in particular, have gone after the e-commerce giant over its corporate incomes taxes. Amazon, for instance, settled a tax dispute with French authorities in early February. While the amount of settlement was not disclosed, France had been seeking nearly 200 million euros, or $250 million. Additionally, the European Union also ordered Amazon to pay $294 million, 250 million euros, to Luxembourg over an “illegal tax advantage.” Italy has also reportedly made similar allegations.