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Economics 101 says that governments can discourage activities through taxing them. Most people would argue that society should rather give people more income t
by fizx 8y ago
Economics 101 says that governments can discourage activities through taxing them.
Most people would argue that society should rather give people more income than corporations larger profits.
Therefore, corporations should be taxed more, and income taxed less.
- esoterica 8y agoCorporate profits get redistributed to individuals through dividends and buybacks, so taxing corporations is just taxing the income of individuals indirectly.
- chii 8y agoThose individuals who gain income from investments ought to be wealthier, and therefore, more able to handle the higher taxation. Income deriving from wages are currently taxed at a rate that's higher than income from investments, and most people would agree that this is an injustice. Of course, those who make and pass laws are heavily connected with those who make their income via investments, and therefore, change is unlikely to happen.
- conanbatt 8y agoEconomics is not accounting: who signs the check is not who pays for it. The concept is called "economic incidence" and its why corp taxes have consensus to be reduced in the economist community.
- everdev 8y ago> taxing corporations is just taxing the income of individuals indirectly Or taxing their income twice
- smt88 8y ago> * taxing corporations is just taxing the income of individuals indirectly* Yes, but it matters which individuals you end up taxing and what they did to earn that income. Amazon's employees, who earned their income by going to work and creating value, should bear less of the tax burden than people who are receiving money from dividends and buybacks because all they did was have enough money to invest it.
- pmiller2 8y agoReplace “individuals” by “shareholders,” or even “capitalists,” if you want to be more accurate. Most “individuals” in the US are wage slaves with little or no savings, much less investments. Those people benefit not a whit by Amazon passing on tax savings to shareholders.
- sundaeofshock 8y agoDividends and buybacks go to people who did not do the work that generated the original revenue. The actual workers of the company should derive the benefit of their own labor, not some random shareholder.
- ianai 8y agoOr tax people and corporations the same way. Tax on the left overs after the costs are met...
- conanbatt 8y agoCorporations are not people. The tax is paid by investors, workers or consumers.
- panarky 8y agoThe article is not about whether corporate taxation in general is good or bad. It's about Amazon paying $0 taxes on $11B in profits while other corporations continue to pay taxes.