> Are corporate taxes critical? Aren't most profits paid out (and taxed) as income to workers and dividends to shareholders or used for stock buy backs and taxe

> Are corporate taxes critical? Aren't most profits paid out (and taxed) as income to workers and dividends to shareholders or used for stock buy backs and taxed as capital gains? The answer is that even if that is the case, it doesn't matter. But let me elaborate. First - wages paid to workers are out of the equation, since they're deductible; see: https://www.irs.gov/publications/p535 https://www.irs.gov/publications/p535 (caveat: I'm not a USer nor a tax specialist) As for dividends for shareholders, those are sometimes/often "qualified": https://smartasset.com/taxes/dividend-tax-rate https://smartasset.com/taxes/dividend-tax-rate and there may be other loopholes I'm not aware of. And the non-qualified tax rate is not that high either. But then, think of what remains. A business has gotten a bunch of income, untaxed. It is not simply a funnel of money to individuals: A business is a social entity, a social actor - and on a macro level, commercial enterprises are a very powerful part of society (especially the huge ones). Them not being taxed mean they control a larger fraction of society's resources. Now, sure, when they use that money, it will often end up being taxed further along the way - but that's no different from your income being taxed when you use it. And just like with a business, the income we make eventually gets passed on to others through our purchases or gifts or what-not. So why should we pay any income tax at all? It's faulty logic both for us as individuals and for corporations.