[Diana in Wisconsin]

If I were Wal-Mart, I'd sue the b@stards in Wisconsin who FORCE a BUSINESS be a TAX COLLECTING ENTITY (i.e. collecting Sales Taxes for them...FREE OF CHARGE!) That's $187.2 MILLION BUCKS Wal-Mart collected for THE STATE OF WISCONSIN last year alone, in case anyone missed it. ;)

The State needs to do their OWN d@mn tax collecting, not make we business owners (big & small) do all the heavy lifting for them!

And that's all I have to say about that! :)

Other than...if Wal-Mart is smart, they'll pull out of this god-forsaken Tax Hell of a state, as we plan to do in the near future.

OK. Now I'm done, LOL!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

We haven’t had a good, old-fashioned ‘Wal-Mart Bash’ for quite some time now!

*WINK*

[Spktyr]

IIRC, that paragon of Wisconsin industry, Harley-Davidson, does the exact same thing.

Wonder why the WI libs aren’t going after them?

[Graybeard58]

The libs just don’t get it. Wal-Mart doesn’t pay taxes, people who buy the products they sell pay them. The key word I latched on to was “avoided”. Big difference in avoidance and evasion. I avoid all taxes I can.

[Jaysun]

More loud mouthed libs bashing Wal-Mart. What’s new?

[goodwithagun]

That is funny. A government entity is accusing someone of abusing and distorting income.

[elpadre]

I understand that what they describe is a common practice. Two corporations, one owns the assets, the other is the operations arm and rents from the other for tax benefit.

The heavy industry (metal) from which I retired 16 years ago did just that, as did the other plants nearby.

[gidget7]

OK if I get this right, Walmart rents the area their store is located on. Now does not whoever owns the property pay the taxes on it? This doesn’t make any sense.

[BallyBill]

New Headline: Wal Mart hates Firemen, Police, Roadways and School Children!

[Gabz]

Oh Good Grief -— WalMart Ping..........

[longtermmemmory]

In other words the state tax collection ADMITS it is legal, it is just not being EQUALLY OPPRESSIVE because walmart can afford to set up the stucture to avoid the taxes.

I see a cottage industry to set this up for smaller businesss.

I hope walmart fights and WINS this one.

[MarkL]

It sounds to me as if the fault lies with the WI legislature, which set up the tax laws in such a way to benefit their favorites, i.e. buddies who contribute to their election campaigns. But now that Walmart is taking advantage of those loopholes written into the laws, they're going to take them to the cleaners!

I agree with you, Walmart should just pull out of WI, and set up stores just over the border in friendlier locations.

Mark

[Secret Agent Man]

Good for Wal-Mart. They are following the laws that exist and if they can legally reduce their tax liability, wonderful. Everyone should do whatever they can legally to reduce their tax liability using whatever means the laws allow.

If WI wants to stop this, they need to change the laws. See how popular an issue this is, eh?

[Mase]

I love it when industry outsmarts the state. Another win for the good guys.

[FreedomCalls]

The State needs to do their OWN d@mn tax collecting, not make we business owners (big & small) do all the heavy lifting for them!

Have you heard of the "Fair Tax^®" initiative? You'll love it!

[Sarajevo]

some want to change state law to end the technique Wal-Mart is using,?p>

It sounds legal to me..........

[metesky]

A representative of Kohl's Corp., Menomonee Falls, which owns department stores across the nation, said it does not use the tactic. A Sears spokesman said it also does not use the strategy.

When you stand back and look at what is really going on you can see the difference in these cases: Kohl's and Sears are usually in a mall and rent their space from the mall's owner, while Wally-World builds their own stand-alone buildings and owns them.

The attempted comparison is apples and oranges.

[goldstategop]

Liberals passing on higher prices to the people they claim to care about most. Yaay!

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus