[originldirgibl]

Re: tax avoidance vs tax evasion: https://apps.irs.gov/app/understandingTaxes/whys/thm01/les03...

I definitely understand the point you're making, but terminology is important in regards to legality. For better or worse, if Google is in compliance with the law, then the onus is on the legislature to fix whatever loophole they may be using to conduct tax avoidance.

[DanBC]

Tax laws are what's written in statutes, but it's also how the courts interpret laws and build a body of case law.

Some places have light touch regulation where courts are used as a measure of last resort, and only for the most flagrant offenders, and so you don't get those case law precedents.

Tax avoidance covers a wide range of activity. At one end you have the perfectly normal and accepted tax planning. But at the other you have companies doing weird things with tax law, and we don't know if that's illegal or not until it goes through the courts. Some of the companies we're talking about have huge amounts of money available to fight court cases which is another reason why countries are reluctant to take cases through the courts.

[speedgoose]

I think it's pretty clear it's legal. But even though it's legal, it doesn't mean it's acceptable to do it.