In an anti-Walmart stunt, activists delivered a $7.8 billion "tax bill" to the Paradise Valley home of Walmart chairman Rob Walton.
It's the latest in a long line of demonstrations organized by the United Food and Commercial Workers or related union-supported groups, which have been campaigning on a claim that Walmart pays its workers so little that they depend on government safety-net programs, while the company turns huge profits.
See also:
-Black Friday Protest at Tempe Walmart
The claim that Walmart somehow owes taxpayers $7.8 billion comes from a report compiled by another union-supported organization.
About $1.6 billion of that involves some of the "tax loopholes" (which others may call "good accounting") that have been used to lower the taxes owed by Walmart and the Walton family.
The bulk of the "bill" includes an estimated $6.2 billion for Walmart employees receiving government assistance.
Forbes writer Tim Worstall wrote a counter-point argument to this report, noting, in part, that government-assistance payouts would only be higher had these people not been hired by Walmart.
Either way, activists left the $7.8 billion bill outside Walton's PV home (a home that Zillow estimates to be worth more than $12 million, for those curious).
Note to Uncle Sam: Don't wait by the mailbox expecting that check.
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