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Sorry but fair share is a crap phrase and completely brushes over the two facts. 1) No business pays any tax, ever. They are collectors of tax only. The embed

Sorry but fair share is a crap phrase and completely brushes over the two facts. 1) No business pays any tax, ever. They are collectors of tax only. The embed their taxes and fees in the products and services they sell which means the consumer is the payer. So at most they are guilty of collecting and not turning over taxes. The tricks you bemoan exist because politicians and countries of the EU can still bargain to better support their own people and do so. 2) Considering the level of taxation in Europe, if you think that services are inadequate you need to ask your officials just what have they been spending it on? How are few hundred million or another billion really go to fix it without spending discipline. As for philanthropy, welcome to the US. It has always been a social quirk of the US for people and companies to step in. Its what they do. Its a social agreement built on history. It should be celebrated, not demonized.

piaste 9y ago
> So at most they are guilty of collecting and not turning over taxes. "At most"? Do you believe that collecting others' taxes and keeping them for your own profit is somehow better than tax dodging?
smeyer 9y ago
>The embed their taxes and fees in the products and services they sell which means the consumer is the payer. This is only true in some cases, but what actually determines whether the business pays the taxes out of profits or passes it along to consumers are the elasticity of demand and elasticity of supply. In an extreme example, think of a monopoly with large profit margins facing extremely elastic demand; it will have no choice but to pay the bulk of the tax out of profits. I didn't review these links carefully, but it looks like you can learn more at [0], [1], and [2] if you're interested. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_incidence https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_incidence [1] https://www.khanacademy.org/economics-finance-domain/microeconomics/elasticity-tutorial/price-elasticity-tutorial/a/elasticity-and-tax-incidence https://www.khanacademy.org/economics-finance-domain/microec... [2] https://www.boundless.com/economics/textbooks/boundless-economics-textbook/taxes-and-public-finance-16/progressive-proportional-and-regressive-taxes-86/tax-incidence-and-elasticity-328-12425/ https://www.boundless.com/economics/textbooks/boundless-econ...
Analemma_ 9y ago
This is hilariously wrong. If "businesses never paid any tax", they would have no problem when tax rates went up. Instead they complain vociferously and buy legislators in order to keep that from happening.
Jtsummers 9y ago
> As for philanthropy, welcome to the US. It has always been a social quirk of the US for people and companies to step in. Its what they do. Its a social agreement built on history. It should be celebrated, not demonized. That's hardly unique to the US. Many (most?) of the world's religions have a similar call to action, to give to people in need. Though some are more inclusive (anyone in need) and others more exclusive (members of the religious community).
BoiledCabbage 9y ago
> No business pays any tax, ever. They are collectors of tax only. The embed their taxes and fees in the products and services they sell which means the consumer is the payer. And similarly no consumers pay any tax ever. They are collectors of tax only. They embed their "fees" in the salaries they demand from their employers. Or more accurately, both consumers and businesses are responsible for paying taxes as part of the responsibilities of benefiting from a functioning society. One that provides a structure of law, an educated populace, common infrastructure and a safety net. All sides are responsible for contributing to society - business just have consolidated more power. Sufficient enough to escape the responsibilities of paying taxes.

piaste 9y ago

> So at most they are guilty of collecting and not turning over taxes. "At most"? Do you believe that collecting others' taxes and keeping them for your own profit is somehow better than tax dodging?

smeyer 9y ago

>The embed their taxes and fees in the products and services they sell which means the consumer is the payer. This is only true in some cases, but what actually determines whether the business pays the taxes out of profits or passes it along to consumers are the elasticity of demand and elasticity of supply. In an extreme example, think of a monopoly with large profit margins facing extremely elastic demand; it will have no choice but to pay the bulk of the tax out of profits. I didn't review these links carefully, but it looks like you can learn more at [0], [1], and [2] if you're interested. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_incidence https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_incidence [1] https://www.khanacademy.org/economics-finance-domain/microeconomics/elasticity-tutorial/price-elasticity-tutorial/a/elasticity-and-tax-incidence https://www.khanacademy.org/economics-finance-domain/microec... [2] https://www.boundless.com/economics/textbooks/boundless-economics-textbook/taxes-and-public-finance-16/progressive-proportional-and-regressive-taxes-86/tax-incidence-and-elasticity-328-12425/ https://www.boundless.com/economics/textbooks/boundless-econ...

Analemma_ 9y ago

This is hilariously wrong. If "businesses never paid any tax", they would have no problem when tax rates went up. Instead they complain vociferously and buy legislators in order to keep that from happening.

Jtsummers 9y ago

> As for philanthropy, welcome to the US. It has always been a social quirk of the US for people and companies to step in. Its what they do. Its a social agreement built on history. It should be celebrated, not demonized. That's hardly unique to the US. Many (most?) of the world's religions have a similar call to action, to give to people in need. Though some are more inclusive (anyone in need) and others more exclusive (members of the religious community).

BoiledCabbage 9y ago

> No business pays any tax, ever. They are collectors of tax only. The embed their taxes and fees in the products and services they sell which means the consumer is the payer. And similarly no consumers pay any tax ever. They are collectors of tax only. They embed their "fees" in the salaries they demand from their employers. Or more accurately, both consumers and businesses are responsible for paying taxes as part of the responsibilities of benefiting from a functioning society. One that provides a structure of law, an educated populace, common infrastructure and a safety net. All sides are responsible for contributing to society - business just have consolidated more power. Sufficient enough to escape the responsibilities of paying taxes.