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Why shouldn't companies do things just to avoid taxes? I'm sure most individuals would do whatever they can to pay less. About this law, what it really creates

Why shouldn't companies do things just to avoid taxes? I'm sure most individuals would do whatever they can to pay less. About this law, what it really creates is an insane amount of insecurity. When other people get to decide whether what you do is reasonable or not, the only question that matters is who gets to make the decision. And you should not have to waste precious time explanting anything to a bureocrat. Maybe Faang companies get to have that luxury

kevin_thibedeau 6y ago
The taxes are there so that they don't have to contend with roving bandits ransacking their property. It's paying back for the benefit of a stable, regulated society.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
ratsforhorses 6y ago
Just a naive reply, but seeing you are taxed on profits, wouldn't a way to be taxed less be to pay your employees more, invest more in R&D, pay off debt or just plain accrue assets such as real estate or even other businesses for future growth or do these somehow not count? I mean ultimately you are growing the value of the business which should show up in the share price, and you could cash out when the Republicans return to power and deflate the tax rate "again" On an added note, in these times of looming climate crisis, a carbon tax or something associated with companies using/polluting "free" resources (air/water/petroleum products) seems like a good idea
- jokethrowaway 6y ago
  Amazon did that for quite some time
  - ksec 6y ago
    Yes, except certain group still advocating they should pay their tax. Unless they want to change the tax code to tax revenue, none of it make sense.
- psds2 6y ago
  But paying off debt doesn't reduce your taxable income and why would the government care if you avoid a corporate taxes by giving money to an individual who pays 32% tax on it.
ClumsyPilot 6y ago
"When other people get to decide whether what you do is reasonable or not, the only question that matters is who gets to make the decision." Why is HN always full of people advocating that companies should be above the law? You harm someone in self-defence and a judge of jury decides whether what you did was reasonable. We just have a stack of case law that says 'in the past, X was found reasonable". On the other hand, when Boeing killed hundreds of people, no one was even charged. If any individual commits the acts corporates do regularly, they'd be in jail in no time.
- klyrs 6y ago
  > Why is HN always full of people advocating that companies should be above the law? I've seen folks claim that HN has a significant population of investors and founders. There's probably a fair share of people who aspire to belong to that group, too. It's probably a concentration of the greater pattern of Americans seeing themselves as temporarily embarrassed billionaires.
- ksec 6y ago
  >Why is HN always full of people advocating that companies should be above the law? May be I am not reading it correctly. It is perfectly legal and within the law so no one is advocating they are above the law.

kevin_thibedeau 6y ago

The taxes are there so that they don't have to contend with roving bandits ransacking their property. It's paying back for the benefit of a stable, regulated society.

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]

ratsforhorses 6y ago

Just a naive reply, but seeing you are taxed on profits, wouldn't a way to be taxed less be to pay your employees more, invest more in R&D, pay off debt or just plain accrue assets such as real estate or even other businesses for future growth or do these somehow not count? I mean ultimately you are growing the value of the business which should show up in the share price, and you could cash out when the Republicans return to power and deflate the tax rate "again" On an added note, in these times of looming climate crisis, a carbon tax or something associated with companies using/polluting "free" resources (air/water/petroleum products) seems like a good idea

jokethrowaway 6y ago
Amazon did that for quite some time
- ksec 6y ago
  Yes, except certain group still advocating they should pay their tax. Unless they want to change the tax code to tax revenue, none of it make sense.
psds2 6y ago
But paying off debt doesn't reduce your taxable income and why would the government care if you avoid a corporate taxes by giving money to an individual who pays 32% tax on it.

ClumsyPilot 6y ago

"When other people get to decide whether what you do is reasonable or not, the only question that matters is who gets to make the decision." Why is HN always full of people advocating that companies should be above the law? You harm someone in self-defence and a judge of jury decides whether what you did was reasonable. We just have a stack of case law that says 'in the past, X was found reasonable". On the other hand, when Boeing killed hundreds of people, no one was even charged. If any individual commits the acts corporates do regularly, they'd be in jail in no time.

klyrs 6y ago
> Why is HN always full of people advocating that companies should be above the law? I've seen folks claim that HN has a significant population of investors and founders. There's probably a fair share of people who aspire to belong to that group, too. It's probably a concentration of the greater pattern of Americans seeing themselves as temporarily embarrassed billionaires.
ksec 6y ago
>Why is HN always full of people advocating that companies should be above the law? May be I am not reading it correctly. It is perfectly legal and within the law so no one is advocating they are above the law.