ZOOM PAYS $0 IN TAXES

As millions of people became reliant on video calls to stay connected, Zoom became one of

the major winners of the pandemic.

During its most recent fiscal year, which concluded in January, the video-conferencing

platform made $663.9 million in pre-tax profits in the United States alone, compared to $16.3

million the previous year.

Despite the fact that the corporate tax rate for 2020 was 21%, the firm paid no federal

income taxes on those earnings, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange

Commission on Friday

In a statement, a Zoom spokeswoman said the company "complies with all applicable tax

rules" in the countries where it does business and that the company "has invested heavily in

research and development activities to construct and expand its communications technology

- development activity that is expressly encouraged under current legislation."

However, research and development credits accounted for just 1% of Zoom's tax savings,

with the remaining 99 percent coming from paying executives $302.4 million in stock-based

compensation, up from $32.1 million the year before.

Last year, Zoom paid a total of $5.7 million in taxes, resulting in an effective tax rate of 0.8

percent. However, $3.9 million of that was paid on the company's $14.1 million in

international profits, resulting in an effective rate of around 28%, highlighting significant

inconsistencies in the US tax system.

Zoom's (legal) use of stock payments to executives to minimise its tax bill has sparked new

criticism from legislators and activists who advocate for closing loopholes that allow large,

profitable businesses to pay less in taxes than millions of Americans.

TECHNOLOGY