Microsoft says it’s determined to pay more of its fair share in improving quality-of-life in its home state of Washington.
微軟表示，它們決心在改善其華盛頓州的生活質(zhì)量方面支付更多的公平份額。

In the process, it also appears to be branding itself as the anti-Amazon.
在這個過程中，它似乎也將自己標榜為與亞馬遜對立的一方。

Earlier this week, the software giant backed a new bill that would actually increase the software company’s tax burden.
本周早些時候，該軟件巨頭支持了一項新法案，該法案實際上會增加軟件公司的稅負。

As the Seattle Times reports, Washington State HB 2158 seeks to raise a billion dollars to invest in workforce education for state students, including in high-demand subjects such as computer science, engineering, and nursing.
正如“西雅圖時報”報道的那樣，華盛頓州HB 2158尋求籌集10億美元用于為州立學(xué)生投資勞動力教育，包括計算機科學(xué)，工程學(xué)和護理等高要求科目。

It would do so by increasing taxes on sectors that benefit the most from a highly skilled workforce.
此法案通過增加對高技能勞動力中受益最多的部門征稅來實現(xiàn)這一目標。

圖片來源：視覺中國

The bill proposes hiking state business and occupation tax by 33% on tech firms that take in more than $25 billion in annual revenue.
法案提議對年收入超過250億美元的科技公司提高33％的國家商業(yè)和占用稅。

Then, in a section that only affects Microsoft, the bill presents a 67% business tax increase for “advanced computing businesses” that make more than $100 billion a year.
并且，該法案還提出對年收入超過1000億美元“高級計算機企業(yè)”加收67％的營業(yè)稅，這是唯一一條對微軟造成影響的條款。

Only two companies meet that criteria: Redmond-based Microsoft and its Seattle neighbor Amazon.
只有兩家公司符合這一標準：總部位于雷德蒙德的微軟及其西雅圖的鄰居亞馬遜。

The company’s embrace of the bill shouldn’t come as a surprise: Microsoft President Brad Smith doubled down on his company’s commitment to fund education in a Seattle Times op-ed last week.
不出意外，微軟接受了這項法案，微軟總裁布拉德史密斯上周在“西雅圖時報”專欄文章中將其之前承諾的教育基金削減了兩成。

“Let’s ask the largest companies in the tech sector, which are the largest employers of high-skilled talent, to do a bit more,” he wrote. “This means that the largest tech companies would pay somewhat more than the 1.8 percent rate.”
他寫道：“縱觀技術(shù)領(lǐng)域最大的公司，它們是高科技人才最大的雇主，進一步說，這意味著這些大型科技公司的費用支出將超過1.8％?！?/div>

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翻譯：阿忙