Wal-Mart Shut Out Of Chicago

More than 4,500 miles separate a small Wal-Mart Stores Inc. office in Florence, Italy, from the company’s dozens of Illinois retail outlets. But thanks to a convoluted tax arrangement, court records show, Wal-Mart’s Italian operation has helped the giant retailer cut its state tax bill in Illinois by millions of dollars a year.

Wal-Mart set its affairs so that its Italian outpost is the only operating unit of a real-estate subsidiary that controls billions of dollars of the retailer’s property in Illinois and other states. Because technically its only employees are based in Italy, the real-estate unit claims its operations are foreign, exempt from Illinois corporate income taxes.

Earlier this year, the Illinois Department of Revenue objected to the Italian tax maneuver, demanding $26.4 million in back taxes, interest and penalties. Wal-Mart paid the amount in dispute and then sued the state for a refund, according to a complaint filed in May in Illinois Circuit Court in Springfield, Ill.

A Wal-Mart spokesman declined to comment beyond a prepared statement: “We have a disagreement with the state of Illinois over our tax liability last year, and we’ve asked a judge to resolve that for us.” He declined to explain why Italy was chosen as the home of this particular foreign operation or whether Wal-Mart has other such arrangements. ~~~~~~~~~~Wall Street Journal,11/14/07. Note: Illinois is a combined reporting tax state which effectively closes loopholes on DOMESTIC profits in that state. This is why WalMArt created the Italy REIT ,to shift income ,effectively calling itself a FOREIGN company with 80/20 status. Meaning,its holdings and business are in essence a foreign company where Illinois is concerned. ( According to an earlier thread here,WalMart just slipped in a 2300 word amendment two weeks ago in Massachusetts legislation,that would allow WalMart to file as an 80/20 and avoid paying Massachusetts the state revenue due them.)Massachusetts is attempting to inaugurate combined reporting to close these REIT tax loopholes. Kudos to Chicago!!If WalMart is consciously attempting to avoid paying its rightful share,WHY should they be afforded special concessions?

no one forces anyone to stay at walmart that long.if they are so unhappy with pay then go find another job then.

more wmw bs.wmw why dont you ever go talk to target,k-mart,fred meyer,home depot and ufcw union grocery workers and poll them on how happy they are with wages?i am sure you will find more unhappy workers at these places than at walmart.

I just passed the six year mark at my super center, and
am still making less than $10/hr.

Don’t blame me for lack of trying, as I have been looking
for other work, off and on, for a while.

There is an unpleasant reality called the “Unemployment
Rate,” which, for discussions such as this, some people
have turned their backs on the subject, or are too
Gosh Darned ignorant to accept this fact.

By the way, my best regards to Chicago for shutting
out Wal-Mart.

Hey Rob in Surfside!

Why worry about the unemployment rate?  People like RDS will tell you it’s only about 5% right now.  That’s GREAT news!

Unless you’re one of the 5%.

Congratulations Chicago! And don’t be fooled by Lee Scott’s saying that “I don’t care if we NEVER open a store in New York City?” If that was true, then why does Wal-Mart KEEP TRYING TO GET IN THERE?

Screwedby,

“Unless you’re one of the 5%.”

But, ROB is NOT ‘one of the 5%’, luckily Wal-Mart gave him a job, seems nobody else is willing to give him one ("I have been looking for other work, off and on, for a while.")!!  Think about it, without Wal-Mart, ROB would be unemployed!!

Rob,

The average wage in my area, is about $13.00 an hour, what is the average wage in your area?

“And Sinegal says he’s also built a loyal work force. In fact, Costco has the lowest employee turnover rate in retailing. Its turnover is five times lower than its chief rival, Wal-Mart. And Costco pays higher than average wages-$17 an hour-40 percent more than Sam’s Club, the warehouse chain owned by Wal-Mart. And it offers better-than-average benefits, including health care coverage to more than 90 percent of its work force.”
<http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Business/story?id=1362779>

What Sinegal has proven is that a company doesn’t have to be ruthless. Being humane and ethical can also make you money.
<http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Business/story?id=1362779>

While Wal-Mart makes twice as much profit as Costco, Sinegal believes its better business to make a nice profit, but not a killing, and to invest more in Costco’s 92,000 workers. “I don’t see what’s wrong with an employee earning enough to be able to buy a house or having a health plan for the family,” he says

http://www.alternet.org/story/19014/

WalMart- Stop talking about Costco. It embarrasses the hell out of us. And we don’t want to ‘know’ about ‘living wages’ anyway.

Few things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example. Mark Twain, Pudd’nhead Wilson (1894)

oh costco aint all that great sdv.they discriminate when they hire so i dont want to hahear how great they are.hey sdv why dont you go work at costco if its so rosy there and then come back on here and tell us more lies about how great it is.

walmart offers health care to just as many 90% of workers that costco does sdv.walmart dont force anyone to accept insurance.some walmart employees and workers at other places costco included elect not to accept health insurance.ever thought about that?companies cannot force workers to accept health insurance.sptop spouting b.s.sdv and come up with facts and not full of crap pastings that you cant back up one bit.

vantress, why are you ignoring the citations to the articles posted above and the long history of Costco treating its people/workforce so much much better than WalMart is capable of with family ‘living wages’ and 92% health care coverage?

With your abnormal devotion to WalMart you have become incapable of posting any citations of facts or articles, studies or real people. Since you have never been believable about anything yet what makes you think your internet graffiti stench deserves merit or further consideration?

“What kills a skunk is the publicity it gives itself.” Abraham Lincoln.

SDV-

I hadn’t seen you since I started posting again. Glad to see you are still around. Your hateful rhetoric is exactly what this site needs to help its cause.

As you can see, SDV, Someone is still hanging around hoping Bentonville will realize his brilliance and give him a job.

One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. The bamboozle has captured us. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back. ~ Carl Sagan

Thanks Someone. Glad you’re finally on board. Hatred is a very needed spirit in the cause to get rid of WalMart and their hostility to their own entrapped workforce. Like typical business psychopaths… WalMart has already done extensive damage to worker earnings and demonstrated the benefits rip down of millions of Americans to benefit a few Walton billionaires. The more people know about WalMart, the more they will hate it.

Sam Walton revealed his greed like this-

Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton once said, “I pay low wages. I can take advantage of that. We’re going to be successful, but the basis is a very low-wage, low-benefit model of employment.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Wal-Mart#_note-
iswalmartgood

“Is Wal-Mart Good for America?” PBS. November 16, 2004. Retrieved on February 24, 2007.

“For the love of money is the root of all evil:”
(1 Tim. 6: 10a)

“Ye that love the Lord, hate evil:”
(Psalm 97: 10a)

SDV,

“Hatred is a very needed spirit”

Doesn’t that Bible you quote from say something like “Love thy neighbor as thyself”?  Where does ‘hatred’ fit into that senerio?

oh really sdv costco pays that great. a good majority of the workers their are part time.sorry bucko i dont buy biased govt and ufcw union backed stats i am a former ufcw local 135 member and know their tactics and chronic mistreatment of and selling out of members during contract talks.so sorry the ufcw union has no credibility on walmart at all..i dont need to post studies and biased crap on here like you.you cant back up what you say.hey sdv if all walmart employees are so unhappy there and as poorly paid as you claim then tell me why dont they all walk out and quit?no one forces them to stay there.unlike you sdv i have grocery and retail exp with k-mart,a ufcw grocery store and know what the hell goes on unlike you and your constant b.s. and lies about walmart and costco on here.i researched it and all costco workers dont make 41,000 a yr.get your facts right pal before you ever post on here again.

“Doesn’t that Bible you quote from say something like “Love thy neighbor as thyself”?  Where does ‘hatred’ fit into that senerio?”
RDS in ignorant fashion again

We should all just ‘love’ Hitler, Capone, Charles Manson and the operations they all ran, right RDS?

Or perhaps BCCI (Bank of Credit Commerce international), ENRON, AMWAY and the WalMart cult like frauds they turned out to be. Your sense of discretion is typical of the WalMart worshipper and devotee RDS.

“The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who cannot read them.”
Mark Twain

WalMart- vantress’s bitter impoverishment and payday loan dream job.

SDV: What is the quote"And by their fruits,ye shall know them?” Google up The Fellowship.

P.S.-Its also known as “The Family”,in Washington,D.C.

SDV,

“We should all just ‘love’ Hitler, Capone, Charles Manson and the operations they all ran, right RDS?”

Hey, I’m just quoting from the book YOU use to explain things!!  Aren’t all of those people “God’s Children”, decendants of Adam and Eve, in other words, YOUR relatives?  Doesn’t the Bible say “Judge not, Lest ye be judged”?  Isn’t it up to the Lord to do the judging?  Maybe God put those people here, to show others how NOT to act, therefore, they would be doing God’s work? 

Also, doesn’t it say that your body is a temple and you shouldn’t be putting those ‘drugs’ into it, screwing with your ‘brain’, what’s left of it?

What’s the old saying, “Ask a ‘stupid’ question and you’ll get a ‘stupid’ answer”!!

BTW:  Are you a paid shill for Costco?  You seem to PR for them quite often and I can see where they might want you to do that!!

ddrb,

The passage is as follows from Matthew 7: 15-20 (KJV)

15Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

16Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?

17Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.

18A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

19Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

20Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

In the days of Lincoln and his having to contend with the commercial wolves defending their economy of slavery he noted this about the attitudes and perceptions of people…

“The shepherd drives the wolf from the sheep’s throat for which the sheep thanks the shepherd as his liberator, while the wolf denounces him for the same act as the destroyer of liberty.”
Abraham Lincoln

As RDS easily exemplfies the sucker who knows not and desires not to exercise good judgment about people or business, so also WalMart the psychopath ‘love of money’ wolf takes advantage of the ignorant and morally apathetic.
Wage slavery emerges at the front door of WalMart from the Sam Walton model all the way to dumping ‘associates’ onto the states for health care and welfare because of the vicious and ruthless work to pay ratio/impoverishment that Bentonville demands.

Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton once said, “I pay low wages. I can take advantage of that. We’re going to be successful, but the basis is a very low-wage, low-benefit model of employment.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Wal-Mart#_note-
iswalmartgood
“Is Wal-Mart Good for America?” PBS. November 16, 2004. Retrieved on February 24, 2007.

It is sickening to see the RDS type of spiritual ignorance and cultural anti-altruism that is another evil fruit within and upon our society, but this is nothing new from the tree of Christhaters and similarly the mandatory atheism that was the Ayn Rand cult of ‘selfishness’ we still see from the pro WalMart worshipers here all the time.

SDV: Here’s an excerpt from an excelent essay by Scott Thill in today’s Alter Net,entitled “Are Hedge Fund Managers Using Us as Pawns?"~~~~~~~"In fact, while hedge funds and private equity groups exploited the misfortunes of those caught beneath currency, housing or internet bubbles, the rest of us watched as the American Dream was being dismantled piece by piece. The $20 an hour wage that had allowed access into the American middle class is now devolving: As a recent article in the International Herald Tribune explained, since the 1970s “the percentage of people earning at least $20 an hour has eroded in every sector of the economy, falling last year to 18 percent of all hourly workers from 23 percent in 1979—a gradual unwinding of the post-World War II gains.” In 2007, a hedge fund manager had to take home at least $360 million, more than 18 times what s/he had to pull down in 2002, to be considered a player. The American family, by contrast, had to earn more than the median $60,500. And as the former is going up like a rocket, the latter is sinking like a stone.

And if things get any worse, stones might be all that average families have to eat in the coming decades as the climate crisis amplifies and destroys what’s left of America’s breadbasket. As it is now, prices for everything from wheat, rice, corn and more are skyrocketing, squeezing First World offenders like America with double-digit increases and Third World victims like Haiti, and Egypt with food riots and destabilized infrastructures. While big-box retailers like Wal-Mart and Costco are limiting purchases of food staples here at home, overseas the so-called silent tsunami of market-based starvation is already under way. It is no accident that the food and oil crises have reaped fat checks for companies trafficking in energy: Exxon’s first quarter profit from 2008 was a galling $10.9 billion, the world’s second-highest ever, behind only its fourth quarter 2007 profit of $11.7 billion). Meanwhile, agrichem titan Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) and other food producers have gotten into the energy game, as well as the lucrative food game they already own. Capitalizing on the switch to ethanol, which exists only because of the rampant speculation on oil, ADM now makes billions from growing corn not to put into our bodies, but our fleet.

So, how long do we have before the whole thing explodes into a global conflagration? A better question to ask is this: Who will profit off of that explosion? By destabilizing everything from the currency and housing markets to resuscitating wastrels like Chrysler, GMAC and Clear Channel—and even down to possibly buying up its own private armies—hedge funds, private equity groups and other secretive, unregulated financial institutions have gone, ironically enough, utterly transparent. It is now easier than ever to see, by their acquisitions, paydays and disgraceful hires, how the rest of us are mere pawns in their economic chess games.

And it may look like science fiction still, but give it time and it may look like home. And this time around, you won’t own it. It will own you.

SDV: Speaking of global trade policy,the Cato Institute has published an essay teoday entitled,"We All Own Stolen Goods-How deending Property Rights Can Help the World’s Most Oppressed People,"Leif Wenar. ~~~~Excerpt:"You very likely own stolen goods. The gas in your car, the circuits in your cell phone, the diamond in your ring, the chemicals in your lipstick or shaving cream — even the plastic in your computer may be the product of theft. Americans buy huge quantities of goods every day that are literally stolen from some of the world’s poorest people. These thefts are permitted — indeed encouraged — by an archaic rule of international trade that violates the most fundamental rule of capitalism: to protect property rights.

Tracing these stolen goods back to where the thefts occur lands us in some of the most wretched places on earth. What these countries have in common is an abundance of natural resources and plentiful political violence and corruption. All suffer from what Joseph Stiglitz and Jeffrey Sachs call “the resource curse.” Here dictators and insurgents sell off the country’s resources to foreigners, terrifying the people into submission while keeping the wealth for themselves."~~~~~~~~~~~You can link on to this interesting piece over at Thousand Reasons. I was impressed with the creation of a Clean Hands Fund,and trade and tariff integration.

5/12/08-Daily Telegraph,U.K.:~~~~~"The director of Christian Aid, Dr Daleep Mukarji, said: “We predict that illegal trade-related tax evasion alone will be responsible for the deaths of 5.6 million children under the age of five between 2000 and 2015. That’s almost 1,000 a day”. Christian Aid believes that up to $11 trillion of funds may be stashed away in tax havens.

The report notes the conventional distinction drawn between tax planning and tax avoidance, which are legal, and tax evasion, which is not, but says that avoidance is part of a “sliding scale of legitimacy”, in which ever more ingenious and complex methods are used to get around the rules and shelter corporate profits, notably through the use of tax havens, places where extreme secrecy in turn encourages a more general criminality.

It says: “The inescapable fact is that there are only four reasons for banking ‘offshore’: to avoid tax, to evade tax, to function in secret, to sidestep regulations controlling financial services or monopolistic practices. In each scenario, the pursuit of profit outweighs all other considerations, including good citizenship and social responsibility.

The widespread use of holding companies in tax havens to hold profits, licences and intellectual property, all to reduce tax bills, is also condemned: “Every transnational corporation uses holding companies”, it said, and listed BP, Wal-Mart, Royal Dutch Shell, ExxonMobil and Ford Motor Company’s reinsurance group as benefiting from offshore holdings.

Christian Aid’s strongest words are reserved for the companies and firms of accountants who save billions through such activities as manipulating invoicing and cost structures to avoid paying taxes. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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