Is this an example of when the State (Federal AND Calif) governments reap...
LOL "The title is too long." So THAT's where some of the recovered chars came from....
Original title
"Is this an example of when the State (Federal AND Calif) governments reap a windfal for little input?"
Don't misunderstand, but I feel that paying "reasonable" taxes is a fair demand than paying into something that extracts far more than the work it puts in.
For example, if a company generates a product or service, it might already know it is to pay an effective 45% tax on profits. But, it is most likely limited on how much it can write down, deduct, and so on. So, in the case of a fb, having earned or raised tons of money suddenly becomes a taxable event 'just because' a transaction took place.
But, for fb to help its "staff" (all employees?) who have those RSUs cover their taxes means (I suppose) fb is using the staff's taxes as another way to increase its upfront cash outlays or write-down costs. Maybe, though, the IRS could get painful and just go after the employees anyway, claiming they received a taxable benefit by virtue of fb relieving them of paying a tax that is over $400 or $600 (or whatever the current amount is).
As for the banks, unless they have hands reaching deep into prospective fortunes of fb, other than having good face time and future relations with fb, why would they want to lend fb hundreds of millions to cover taxes which will be in the billions? Of course, they surely don't expect fb to implode or become the next GoDaddy or Yahoo! or friendster in the next 2 years, so some banking official at each bank will stand to reap a huge bonus if fb's loan generates a huge quarterly and annual interest rate income stream... Hmm, maybe I answered my own question....
Biting the hand that feeds IT
