Wal-Mart’s double tax policy under review in CT
The Hartford Courant has been following this story, and apparently the complaints against Wal-Mart have been increasing. Consumers have increasingly suggested that Wal-Mart has to be violating some state law by requiring them to pay tax again on exchanges made without receipts. Actually, according to the Connecticut Revenue Department, additional sales tax cannot be charged if a store has an even exchange policy. In his blog, the Courant’s George Gombossy came to the following determination:
My conclusion is that not only is Wal-Mart violating state laws by charging tax again without receipts, but is letting its employees falsely blame the state.
Gombossy points out that on its website, Wal-Mart says: “You can replace, exchange, or get credit for an item immediately in a store, pending product availability.”
The issue is now with the state’s Consumer Protection Department.
Consumer Protection reviewing Wal-Mart’s double tax policy [Hartford Courant]
Despite complaints from customers of its stores throughout Connecticut, Wal-Mart insists that it’s following state tax laws by requiring them to pay tax again on exchanges made without receipts.
My conclusion is that not only is Wal-Mart violating state laws by charging tax again without receipts, but is letting its employees falsely blame the state. But you be the judge.
The law seems clear:
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Posted by Corey Himrod on Thursday, October 23 | 2 comments | Permalink
Get your Presidential ad fix from Wal-Mart
Since the issue of Wal-Mart has been surprisingly muted this campaign season (Wal-Mart Moms?), the retailer has decided to inject itself into the campaign ad fray. Both Obama and McCain have videos running on Wal-Mart’s corporate website. You can find them both here.
Here’s a little summary of the main points of each of the campaign messages you can find on walmartstores.com:
Obama:
Our economy is in crisis, we have two wars, and the American dream is slipping away (starting out on a positive note...nice)
We’re going to fix it by giving a $1,000 tax break to the middle class (YAY!!!! More money to spend at Wal-Mart!!!)
We’re going to allow workers to organize, for better wages, health care, benefits (Organize, YAY...wait, what?!)
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Posted by Corey Himrod on Wednesday, October 22 | 49 comments | Permalink
That’s taxalicious!
This comes courtesty of Writing on the Wal. We’ve issued reports on Wal-Mart’s use of various tax schemes, including captive REITs, 80/20 companies, and captive employee leasing companies. All of these strategies have been used in the name of avoiding paying state corporate income tax. Now, one website has gone ahead and documented some additional tax issues, these of the unpaid variety.
Below are examples of tax liens placed on Wal-Mart, ranging from $104 to, well, a whole lot more. Liens are granted after notices have been sent to a debtor but the owed taxes remain unpaid. Its nice to know that, in addition to not paying taxes, Wal-Mart forces states to spend MORE money just to collect these debts. YAY!
EXAMPLE ONE:
Debtor Information
Name: WAL MART STORES INC
Tax ID: 710415188
Address: 702 SW 8TH ST
BENTONVILLE, AR 72716-6209
BENTON COUNTY
Creditor Information
Name: SC DEPT OF REVENUE
Filing Information
Filing State: SOUTH CAROLINA
Original Filing Date: 1/17/2003
Amount: $2,463,114
Release Date: 1/28/2003
Filing 1
Filing Number: 50458809
Filing Court: GREENVILLE COUNTY RECORDER
Filing County: GREENVILLE
EXAMPLE TWO:
Debtor Information
Name: WAL MART STORES INCORPORATED
Tax ID: 710415188
Address: 702 SW 8TH ST
BENTONVILLE, AR 72716-6209
BENTON COUNTY
Creditor Information
Name: STATE OF INDIANA
Filing Information
Filing State: INDIANA
Original Filing Date: 4/15/2008
Amount: $1,600,933
Release Date: 6/13/2008
Filing 1
Filing Number: 06819151
Filing Type: STATE TAX WARRANT
Filing Court: MARION COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT
Filing County: MARION
Read on for more!
Wal-Mart: Examine the history of the tax liens in the millions
Posted by Corey Himrod on Tuesday, October 21 | 0 comments | Permalink
Wal-mart might be in violation of Connecticut sales tax law
Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell is ordering the state revenue department to revue possible tax law violations by major retail chains within the state.
According to the Hartford Courant:
Gov. M. Jodi Rell appears to doubt the state revenue services department’s assertion that it is “on top of” complaints from consumers that major retailers in Connecticut are violating state laws by charging a second sales tax when merchandise paid for with cash is exchanged.
This practice has apparently been the subject of many complaints in the Constitution State, where sales tax cannot be charged on an exchange item if a retailer has a policy of permitting exchanges on identical items purchased with cash and without a receipt.
The Courant’s “CT Watchdog” column has been stirring the issue up for a few weeks now - dozens of people have written in to the paper to share their story of double taxation. There seems to be a couple of things going on here. The first question is whether retailers are acting illegally by charging sales tax on identical exchanges where sales tax was paid at the initial point of purchase - this becomes a bigger deal the more expensive the item being exchanged becomes. The second question is where the additional sales tax has been going...has the state revenue department been quick to address complaints related to this practice?
The Governor’s office apparently thinks it has not, so we’ll just have to keep watching to see if penalties end up being levied.
Gov. Rell to order tax department to look into state tax law violations [Hartford Courant]
Posted by Corey Himrod on Monday, October 20 | 9 comments | Permalink
Weekly Update for Elected Officials: Oct. 17, 2008
Check out this week’s issue of the Wal-Mart Watch Weekly Update for Elected Officials – a compilation of Wal-Mart news from across the country and beyond.
This week’s issue centers on a new website launched by Wal-Mart Watch which details the retailer’s political contributions, positions on specific legislation, and spending on lobbyists and industry trade groups. The website, Walton Influence, also includes similar information on the Walton family and the family’s related enterprises.
In addition, you’ll read about a number of legal issues, the most important of which could be affecting the health of millions of Americans. Bloomberg News and the San Francisco Chronicle, among others, are reporting on how tests of several of the best-selling brands of bottled water (including Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club private label brands) have been found to contain mixtures of at least 38 different pollutants, including bacteria, fertilizer, and industrial chemicals. These findings could result in a lawsuit against the retail giant.
And finally, check out our “Stateside” and “Wal-Mart International” sections to find out what’s going on with Wal-Mart around the country and across the globe. You’ll read about how Maryland’s closing of certain corporate tax loopholes has resulted in millions of dollars in increased state funds, and why employees in Illinois are protesting Wal-Mart’s electioneering activities.
Wal-Mart Watch Weekly Update for Elected Officials [October 16, 2008]
Posted by Corey Himrod on Friday, October 17 | 2 comments | Permalink
Closing REIT loophole nets Maryland beaucoup dollars
The collection is from an undisclosed company - unnamed because of state tax confidentiality laws.
The REIT loophole issue, which focuses on the use of captive real estate investment trusts to avoid paying state corporate income taxes, has been in the national spotlight for going on two years now. In North Carolina, Wal-Mart saved millions of dollars in state tax bills by essentially transferring its properties to its own REIT and paying rent to itself, then writing it off as a tax deduction. These transactions were frequently followed by rather suspicious looking characters in black masks trudging back to Bentonville with big old gobs of money that could have gone to funding state programs.
North Carolina got wise to the scheme and assessed Wal-Mart for back taxes. Additional states have sought ways to close the loophole up, either through attacking it directly or by adopting combined reporting. Maryland is one of those states - last year Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot announced that his state would no longer allow payments to captive REITs to be deducted from state tax returns. Now following its first publicized audit since then, Maryland will receive $10.8 million in back taxes for a 3-year period from the unnamed company.
We’ve chronicled again and again that Wal-Mart is one of the worst offenders in this area. Simply closing the loophole is one way to fix it. Adopting combined reporting is another. At least in Maryland’s case, the effort has already resulted in nearly $11 million coming back into the state treasury.
Maryland collects millions after closing tax loophole [Washington Post]
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Posted by Corey Himrod on Tuesday, October 14 | 2 comments | Permalink
Wal-Mart Executives Harrass Blogger’s Daughter for Being a Democrat
Wal-Mart’s official company position on politics is bipartisan, but glimpses into Wal-Mart’s corporate culture reveal this is far from true. Daily Kos diarist Arkydem wrote a post today about a party his adult daughter attended in northwest Arkansas hosted by two Wal-Mart executives. From the sound of it, Wal-Mart’s executive corps is made up entirely of the insensitive meatheads you hated in high school, but instead of teasing you about your lame off-brand sneakers, now they tease you about not being a Republican. Says Arkydem:
I live in the Republican stronghold of Arkansas, the northwest corner. The home of over 7,000 Wal-Mart employees and since early 2002 when Wal-Mart made the announcement that if you’re a vendor, you set up shop here, adding another 30-40K folks and a sea of vendor offices all over the county, all carrying the misinformation and hate that corporate Wal-Mart spreads through its ranks and its vendor slaves about Democrats and about a million other things.
Wal-Mart strives to be seen as a politically neutral company for several reasons. The politics of Wal-Mart have never been positive for the company: low wages, poor benefits and other stingy practices have dogged the retailer for years, and have damaged its reputation. The farther the company can distance itself from these issues, the better. But Wal-Mart is also desperate to break in to several predominantly Democrat markets, and aligning with Republican values never helps this cause. Stories like Arkydem’s present a real problem for Wal-Mart, and seriously hamper its attempts to woo Democrats. Stories like this one don’t help much either, but no one said the company was interested in actually changing its practices to achieve change.
They Attacked our Daughter [Daily Kos]
Wal-Mart on the attack [Arkansas Times]
Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Tuesday, October 14 | 1 comments | Permalink
New Website From Wal-Mart Watch Examines Walton Family Influence
Wal-Mart Watch has launched a new website - http://www.waltoninfluence.com - which analyzes and tracks the Walton family’s and Wal-Mart’s growing influence on American politics.
Although Sam Walton believed his company should stay out of politics and stick to retailing, Wal-Mart’s strategy changed immensely after his death. From 1999 to 2007, Wal-Mart’s lobbying expenditures for outside firms increased 7425%. Although Wal-Mart attempts to tout its bipartisanship, the Wal-Mart PAC has given the vast majority of its over $7.5 million in the past decade to the Republican Party and other conservative groups.
With more than $12 billion in profits last year, Wal-Mart is the biggest and arguably most powerful corporation in America. Sam Walton’s heirs, the majority owners of the company, are worth over $100 billion - making them the wealthiest and certainly one of the most influential families in America.
During the past year, Wal-Mart Watch conducted an analysis of public lobbying and political contribution records for the Walton family and Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., in order to determine how this influence is used to affect politics and policy. The conclusion is clear: Wal-Mart and the Walton family spend millions of dollars every year to fund an extreme right wing corporate agenda that is often directly at odds with the interests of Wal-Mart’s workers and shoppers.
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Posted by Media Team on Friday, October 10 | 12 comments | Permalink
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