Yes, but let's take the path of income, if you're an investor in a company. So company does work, makes gizmo, whatever, and gets out of this x, and makes costs

Yes, but let's take the path of income, if you're an investor in a company. So company does work, makes gizmo, whatever, and gets out of this x, and makes costs of y. So the basis of the income of the investor is x-y, let's call that z. Ok. Most, but not all, companies would pay VAT on z. 10% in the US, 20% in Europe. That reduces the income from z to, let's call it 85% z. Then there's corporate tax. 35%. That makes it 55.25% z. The result of this is then used for dividends, which are then taxed at 15%. That makes it 46.9% z. So there's a tax rate for these investments of somewhere near 53% or so, and I bet it'll be more in practice. Also, the odds of getting an IRS audit if you have a company go up 10-fold. So the base taxes on corporate profits are higher than income taxes, no ? What am I doing wrong.