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"I
have nothing against Amazon, but no company pulling in billions
of dollars of profits should pay a lower tax rate than
firefighters and teachers. We need to reward work, not just
wealth," Biden said in a tweet.
The former U.S. vice president's remark comes at a time when
Amazon has been repeatedly criticized for paying no U.S. federal
income taxes on more than $11 billion in profits before taxes in
2018.
The company also received a $129 million tax rebate from the
federal government.
Amazon responded saying in a tweet that it had paid $2.6 billion
in corporate taxes since 2016.
"We pay every penny we owe," Amazon said, adding: "Congress
designed tax laws to encourage companies to reinvest in the
American economy. We have."
Amazon said it has invested $200 billion since 2011 and created
300,000 U.S. jobs.
"Assume VP Biden's complaint is (with) the tax code, not
Amazon," the company tweeted.
Amazon told Reuters in May its low tax bill mainly stemmed from
stock-based employee compensation, the Republican tax cuts of
2017, carry forward losses from years when the company was not
profitable and tax credits for massive investments in R&D.
Biden is not the first Democratic presidential candidate to call
out Amazon over its taxes.
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders has said Amazon paying nothing in
federal taxes is a "disgrace" and Massachusetts Senator
Elizabeth Warren has said she will tax Amazon's profits as well
to ensure the largest American corporations do not pay zero
corporate income tax.
The political scrutiny also comes as antitrust regulators have
put the Seattle-based company under the watch of the Federal
Trade Commission, which is gearing up to investigate whether
Amazon misused its massive market power.
(Reporting by Nandita Bose in Washington, editing by G Crosse)
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