4 ms·

Corporate profits get redistributed to individuals through dividends and buybacks, so taxing corporations is just taxing the income of individuals indirectly.

chii 8y ago
Those 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 ago
  Economics 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 ago
Replace “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 ago
Dividends 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.

chii 8y ago

Those 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 ago
Economics 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 ago

Replace “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 ago

Dividends 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.