[seanmcdirmid]

One of my teachers in high school was complaining about Boeing being exempt from Washington state sales tax for the sale of...airplanes. Is that a subsidy? I wouldn't count it as such.

[wbl]

It is. It's a targeted expenditure (vs. a lower sales tax rate overall) but IANAL.

[seanmcdirmid]

For a company with international sales, sales tax (and VAT) should be handled in the district where the sale occurs, not where the product is manufactured. The big problem with the USA is that it doesn't have a VAT system in place to make it all work out equitably.

[JDShu]

Unless I'm misunderstanding your point, I think it still works out equitably regardless of the existence of a VAT system.

[barrkel]

All tax breaks are subsidies.

[dmix]

In effect maybe, but this isn't considered a subsidy on paper though... from my understanding the distinction is "giving" is a subsidy vs "not taking" is a tax break?

[tim333]

Well, it makes a difference whether the government is giving money to the company or visa versa.