Re:Google used a tax loophole to shelter $19.2B
by Codestare on Tuesday January 02, 2018 @07:13PM
(#16057178)
Sometimes I wonder if all those laws could just be distilled into a few universal truth laws or something.
The amount of legal gymnastics going on in court cases and things like this... It never ceases to amaze me. It all seems so inefficient.
Congress might write a law with some expectations.
A well paid accountant and lawyer team might interpret the law differently.
The company employing the team is trying to obey the law, so this isn't illegal tax evasion. But it is tax avoidance, and the use of loopholes may be found to be illegal by the courts, or the law might change to make it illegal.
"Loophole" is just short hand for "unexpected use of law that hasn't been tested by the courts".