March 2010 April 2010 May 2010 June 2010 July 2010
August 2010
September 2010 October 2010
November 2010
December 2010
January 2011
February 2011 March 2011 April 2011 May 2011 June 2011 July 2011 August 2011 September 2011 October 2011 November 2011 December 2011 January 2012 February 2012 March 2012 April 2012 May 2012 June 2012 July 2012 August 2012 September 2012 October 2012 November 2012 December 2012 January 2013 February 2013 March 2013 April 2013 May 2013 June 2013 July 2013 August 2013 September 2013 October 2013 November 2013 December 2013 January 2014 February 2014 March 2014 April 2014 May 2014 June 2014 July 2014 August 2014 September 2014 October 2014 November 2014 December 2014 January 2015 February 2015 March 2015 April 2015 May 2015 June 2015 July 2015 August 2015 September 2015 October 2015 November 2015 December 2015 January 2016 February 2016 March 2016 April 2016 May 2016 June 2016 July 2016 August 2016 September 2016 October 2016 November 2016 December 2016 January 2017 February 2017 March 2017 April 2017 May 2017 June 2017 July 2017 August 2017 September 2017 October 2017 November 2017 December 2017 January 2018 February 2018 March 2018 April 2018 May 2018 June 2018 July 2018 August 2018 September 2018 October 2018 November 2018 December 2018 January 2019 February 2019 March 2019 April 2019 May 2019 June 2019 July 2019 August 2019 September 2019 October 2019 November 2019 December 2019 January 2020 February 2020 March 2020 April 2020 May 2020 June 2020 July 2020 August 2020 September 2020 October 2020 November 2020 December 2020 January 2021 February 2021 March 2021 April 2021 May 2021 June 2021 July 2021 August 2021 September 2021 October 2021 November 2021 December 2021 January 2022 February 2022 March 2022 April 2022 May 2022 June 2022 July 2022 August 2022 September 2022 October 2022 November 2022 December 2022 January 2023 February 2023 March 2023 April 2023 May 2023 June 2023 July 2023 August 2023 September 2023 October 2023 November 2023 December 2023 January 2024 February 2024 March 2024
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29
30
31
News Every Day |

A business ethicist explains why billionaires like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos shouldn't use tax avoidance strategies, even if it's legal

billionaires 04
Ordinary people don't have access to tax avoidance strategies like the superrich do.
  • Some US billionaires reportedly pay minimal amounts of federal income tax, or sometimes nothing at all.
  • While not illegal, tax avoidance strategies can seen as unethical, says business ethics scholar Erin Bass.
  • Regardless of ethics, if the super rich avoid taxes, it could encourage the public to do the same.
  • See more stories on Insider's business page.

Some of the US's wealthiest individuals reportedly pay just a tiny fraction of the billions of dollars added annually to their fortunes in federal income tax - sometimes they pay nothing at all.

Investigative journalism outlet ProPublica says it has obtained a "vast cache" of information from the Internal Revenue Service that purports to show the lengths that American billionaires go to to avoid paying taxes.

It claims to provide an insight into how prominent billionaires such as Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Michael Bloomberg take advantage of "tax avoidance strategies" beyond the reach of ordinary people.

Though there is general public consensus on the illegality of tax evasion - the act of deliberately not paying taxes that are due - much more variance exists in how the public evaluates and scrutinizes tax avoidance strategies that seek to minimize the amount an individual pays through legal loopholes. There is no suggestion that the billionaires in the ProPublica report did anything illegal.

A poll taken just before the 2016 election found that nearly half of Americans agreed with Donald Trump - another wealthy individual not averse to tax avoidance strategies - who noted that paying minimal or no taxes is "smart." But two-thirds said it is "selfish" and 61% declared it to be "unpatriotic."

Read more: 'I love depreciation': How big companies use Trump-like maneuvers to play the tax code in their favor

Rights and responsibilities

As a scholar who studies business ethics, I see these differences in how individuals view and rationalize tax avoidance as being dependent on a person's ethical foundations. Ethical foundations are the principles, norms, and values that guide individual or group beliefs and behaviors. They can shape what people believe is important - such as fairness, care for oneself or others, loyalty, and liberty - and guide judgments about what is right, or ethical, and what is wrong, or unethical.

Philosophers have debated these ethical foundations for centuries, coming up broadly with three different perspectives that are worth exploring in the context of tax avoidance strategies.

Thinkers from Immanuel Kant to John Rawls have offered what has been called the deontological argument. This emphasizes ethics based on adherence to rules, regulations, laws, and norms. Such an approach suggests that "what is right" is defined as that which is most in line with an individual's responsibility and duty toward society.

Meanwhile, utilitarian philosophers such as John Stuart Mill and Jeremy Bentham put forward an argument that recognizes the costs and benefits, or even trade-offs, in pursuing what is right. Under this belief system, called consequentialism, behaviors are ethical if the outcome is beneficial to the greatest number of people, even if it comes at a cost.

A third perspective comes in the shape of what is called the virtue ethical foundation that is associated with Aristotle and other Greek philosophers. This suggests that what is right is that which elevates the individual's virtues and efforts toward moral excellence - defined by both avoiding vices and striving to do good. In this way, ethical behavior is that which enables the individual to achieve his or her most excellent moral self.

On morals and money

When applied to the tax avoidance strategies of individuals, each perspective offers a unique understanding of why individuals differ on what they view to be "right."

An individual who adopts the deontological perspective likely evaluates a public figure's tax avoidance strategies - and that of others - with less scrutiny. As long as an individual follows the tax code, and acts legally, the tax avoidance strategies are likely to be viewed by that individual as ethical.

In contrast, a consequentialist is likely to evaluate tax avoidance strategies by also looking at how those taxes could have been used to benefit society - by paying for schools and hospitals, for example. When one individual - be it a billionaire or any other person - avoids taxes, it increases the costs experienced by everyone else while also decreasing the benefits experienced by society as a whole.

The cost to society in terms of lesser funding for programs and services supported by tax dollars may be even greater when a wealthy individual avoids taxes, given what is likely a higher tax responsibility than that of individuals with modest incomes. Thus, consequentialist individuals may well conclude that tax avoidance strategies are unethical.

An individual who adopts the virtue perspective of Aristotle might evaluate tax avoidance strategies in the context of an individual's other virtuous behaviors. If someone avoids taxes but provides financial support to other institutions or entities that are meaningful to the tax avoider but also produce benefits for society, then the virtuous individual may view this behavior with less disdain.

For example, someone may use tax avoidance strategies and direct some wealth to provide funding directly to an academic health care center for cancer research. But if that person employs tax avoidance strategies in the absence of any other virtuous behaviors, then the tax avoidance is likely to be seen and rationalized as unethical.

Social influencers

So whether tax avoidance strategies are viewed and rationalized as ethical or unethical likely depends on the ethical foundations of the person judging such actions.

But when it comes to public figures and the superrich, there are additional ethical concerns at play here. Public figures are evaluated not just on their own personal morality, but also by what influence their behaviors could have on others. If the superrich avoid taxes, it might signal to the public to do the same, which could have greater consequences. The public often demands more of the superrich - and ethics are no exception. The expectation is that these individuals, as leaders in society, should create benefits for society through their behaviors. As a result, these individuals may be held to a higher ethical standard and their behaviors more closely scrutinized.

As such, the question of whether the tax avoidance strategies of the ultrawealthy are "ethical" depends not only on the ethical foundation of the individual who views and judges the behavior but also on the expectation of the ultrawealthy to create benefits for society.

This is an updated version of an article originally published on The Conversation on October 30, 2020.

Erin Bass, associate professor of management, University of Nebraska Omaha

The Conversation
Read the original article on Business Insider
Блоги

Выпуск ЦФА на платформе «Атомайз» поможет снизить нагрузку на экологию

The 10 Intense New Action Movies on Netflix That Left Me on the Edge of My Seat!

I was diagnosed with cancer aged 39… you are never too rich, too famous or too young, says Dr Philippa Kaye

Top 10 Emmanuelle Seigner Movies

Top 5 Websites to Watch FREE Movies - TV Shows (No Sign up!)

Ria.city






Read also

Glastonbury fans gutted as huge group dash hopes they will play festival – but stars insist reunion IS still on track

China warned as Philippine president proposes countermeasures against Beijing's aggression

Runner, mother, winner: The second coming of Omolara

News, articles, comments, with a minute-by-minute update, now on Today24.pro

News Every Day

The 10 Intense New Action Movies on Netflix That Left Me on the Edge of My Seat!

Today24.pro — latest news 24/7. You can add your news instantly now — here


News Every Day

Top 10 Emmanuelle Seigner Movies



Sports today


Новости тенниса
Янник Синнер

Янник Синнер поделился впечатлениями от общения с игроками сборной Италии по футболу



Спорт в России и мире
Москва

Блиц-матч по шахматам между двумя командами провели в павильоне «Спорт для каждого»



All sports news today





Sports in Russia today

Москва

GeekVape в сотрудничестве с Absolute Racing выиграла чемпионат в категории GT3


Новости России

Game News

Пробный запуск вампирского градостроя Vampire Legacy: City Builder


Russian.city


Москва

Силовики задержали за сутки пятерых журналистов, часть проходит по делу об «участии в работе ФБК», одного жестоко избили при задержании


Губернаторы России
Арцах

Грязная азербайджанская пропаганда на трагедии россиян


Томский аэропорт переходит на весенне-летнее расписание

В Бурятии в 2024 году обновят лесопожарную технику на 126 миллионов рублей

Теракт в «Крокус Сити Холле». Главное на утро 29 марта

Шапки женские вязаные на Wildberries, 2024 — новый цвет от 392 руб. (модель 466)


Николай Цискаридзе: «Балет не для всех является смыслом жизни, как для меня»

Эффект Карабаса: Почему Моргенштерн взялся спасать молодых коллег от музыкального лейбла Rhymes Music

Вывод Песни, Альбома, Клипа в ТОП Музыкальных Чартов!

Shot: комик Семен Слепаков решил ликвидировать ИП в России


Александрова впервые войдет в топ-15 мирового рейтинга

Теннисистка Александрова оказалась сильнее полячки Швентек на турнире WTA в США

Рыбакина, наряду со Свёнтек, имеет 70% побед на WTA-1000 против соперниц из топ-10

Чесноков оценил шансы Александровой в борьбе за выход в финал турнира WTA в Майами



Шапки женские вязаные на Wildberries, 2024 — новый цвет от 392 руб. (модель 466)

Заказать недорогой ремонт кухонной мебели в районе в Москве и Московской области

«Радио Зенит» – информационный партнер форума «Мы вместе. Спорт»

Перенос дат II этапа культурного проекта «Классика: история и современность» в Дмитрове


На Алтае подвели итоги работы центра одаренных детей за 2023 год

Федеральный девелопер: ЦФА позволят легко и просто накопить квадратные метры и "обернуть" их в квартиру

В Москве прошла эковыставка Hydrate The World

Минстрой предложил увеличить стоимость жилья в большинстве регионов России


Беременная Женя Малахова впервые появилась на публике

Новинки кино. Какие фильмы стоит посмотреть в апреле 2024 года?

Вопрос сообществу. Поиск автомобиля для межгорода в современных реалиях.

Глава Минэкономразвития назвал главную задачу при строительстве трассы от Санкт-Петербурга до Екатеринбурга



Путин в России и мире






Персональные новости Russian.city
Фредди Меркьюри

Амигуруми: как связать Фредди Меркьюри крючком (узор и схема)



News Every Day

I was diagnosed with cancer aged 39… you are never too rich, too famous or too young, says Dr Philippa Kaye




Friends of Today24

Музыкальные новости

Персональные новости