Hey, Steve Ballmer, you suck: Ballmer says tax would move Microsoft employees offshore

Steve Ballmer

Photo: www.maximumpc.com

Ahh, the Evil Empire.

Microsoft’s world headquarters is ten miles from the palatial Dauphin/Strategerie domicile. I use Microsoft products, namely Word, as part of my job. If I did not need to do so, I would be switching to an alternative. Today.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=ah5YH8sw_VzI

June 3 (Bloomberg) — Microsoft Corp. Chief Executive Officer Steven Ballmer said the world’s largest software company would move some employees offshore if Congress enacts President Barack Obama’s plans to impose higher taxes on U.S. companies’ foreign profits.

“It makes U.S. jobs more expensive,” Ballmer said in an interview. “We’re better off taking lots of people and moving them out of the U.S. as opposed to keeping them inside the U.S.”

Obama on May 4 proposed outlawing or restricting about $190 billion in tax breaks for offshore companies over the next decade. Such business groups as the National Foreign Trade Council, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Business Roundtable have denounced the proposed overhaul.

U.S. tax rules let companies defer paying corporate rates as high as 35 percent on most types of foreign profits as long as that money remains invested overseas. Obama says he wants to end such incentives to keep foreign profits tax-deferred so that companies would invest them in the U.S.

Barry Bosworth, an economist in Washington at the Brookings Institution research center, said many software companies such as Microsoft have exploited tax and trade rules in the U.S. and other countries to achieve a low overall tax rate.

So, Mr. Ballmer, let me get this straight: Microsoft’s profits are more important than either paying your company’s fair share of taxes, or the fiscal health and economy of the country your business is headquartered in. You must think we’re all too stupid to see through your gambit here. In other words, you’ll take your toys and go home because finally, there’s someone in the White House with the stones to stand up to you and to Microsoft.

Microsoft is the leading H1B employer in the United States. It’s not because you can’t find qualified employees here. You don’t want to, when you can hire others from elsewhere more cheaply. You are cutting jobs here, while expanding your business in other nations. You enjoy tax credits for this activity, too. It’s always good to know that we give taxpayer money (maybe I should call it a “bailout”, huh?) to one of the richest companies in the world for not hiring Americans.

In the meantime, it seems Google now has an operating system that might actually give Microsoft a run for its money. I hope so. Competition is a healthy thing, and Microsoft has squeezed out or bought out every other company that attempted to compete. Google’s got pretty deep pockets, so perhaps, just this once, someone else has a chance.

Again, Mr. Ballmer, I can promise you this: Those who are already fairly unhappy with Microsoft’s business and personnel practices are going to be less than impressed with your 400-pound gorilla act. Then again, I’m sure this doesn’t bother you. We’re just footing the bill for it. Again.

-S