All taxes are regressive in that sense of the word. Taxes on income have the exact same problem. The net result is "higher prices" (in terms of % of your monthl

All taxes are regressive in that sense of the word. Taxes on income have the exact same problem. The net result is "higher prices" (in terms of % of your monthly paycheck). Every single tax. Every last one. The problem is that rich people cheat "legally". They control the companies as well. What companies did in the years of those very high company and personal taxes is to have "executive perks". Now those exist today (and to some extent are defensible, e.g. I understand why the CEO of IBM needs some security). The costs for those were then costs of the company. So companies would lure shareholders in those days by making sure a 1% stake in the company would guarantee a director-level position in the company, which came with free use of a company yacht, plane, very low rent on company-owned housing, ... E.g. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Club_33 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Club_33