California dreaming: Tech media giants and the re-conception of property, commodities and tax

Abstract

Tech media giants are no strangers to controversy in relation to the payment of corporate tax, such as the cases of Apple and Facebook (Meta) in Ireland, Alphabet (Google) in the UK and Amazon in Luxembourg. While the tech media giants are not the only global corporations that take advantage of international tax avoidance opportunities, this paper argues that their hypermobility and unprecedented cash assets place them especially well to take advantage of these practices. Moreover, the nature of some of the commodities, such as information, software or intellectual property that can be moved at the touch of a button; or even a simple re-conception of where the property resides can mean a state gaining or losing billions of dollars. This paper will explore how tech media giants are redefining property and commodity forms and how this allows for creative tax policies. Moreover, the conception of where immaterial commodities, such as pure information, is located (or not located) challenges tax collection strategies for the state. To explore these conceptions, this paper discusses the ideology surrounding the tech media industry, a particular brand of liberalism coined the ‘Californian Ideology’: An ideology that can sometimes be described as transgressive, but also one that may legitimise tax avoidance. The ideology gives a somewhat nebulous definition of what property is (and isn’t) and its location or non-location, thereby negating justification for taxation.