Trump tax taunt
Says Amazon, Post dodge imaginary web levy
PRESIDENT TRUMP in one tweet Wednesday left it unclear if he understands how taxes, Amazon and the internet work.
Trump tweeted an attack on The Washington Post and Amazon — both owned by Seattle mogul Jeff Bezos — in which he called for them to pay nonexistent “internet taxes.”
“The #AmazonWashingtonPost, sometimes referred to as the guardian of Amazon not paying internet taxes (which they should) is FAKE NEWS!” Trump wrote.
Trump has had a long-running public feud with the newspaper, which has produced some of the most aggressive reporting on his administration in recent months. It published a story Tuesday revealing Trump, who constantly rails against so-called “fake news,” keeps a fake Time magazine cover about him on his golf courses.
Trump’s attack contained several errors about the paper’s ownership and finances.
Amazon does not own The Washington Post. Bezos, who founded the online retail giant, bought the paper for $250 million in 2013 and runs it as an independent company.
There is no such thing as the “internet tax” Trump said Amazon should pay — and there’s never been an attempt for Congress to introduce such a levy.
Amazon had long managed to avoid state sales taxes since it did not have a physical presence in most states. As of April, it pays sales taxes in all 45 states that have them. It also paid $229 million in income taxes for the first quarter of this year — on about $1 billion in profits.
This isn’t the first time Trump suggested there is something nefarious about Bezos buying one of the nation’s largest newspapers. During the campaign, Trump claimed Bezos wanted the paper “for power so that the politicians in Washington don’t tax Amazon like they should be taxed.”
Trump, meanwhile, doesn’t have a sterling history with taxes. He is the first President in four decades to not release his tax returns.
The Trump campaign runs its own store with products promoting his presidency, but it does not tax items because purchases are considered campaign contributions.
Amazon did not comment on Trump’s tweets.