Regarding the idea of only taxing corporate distributions (including buybacks?) rather than profits: There are two types of companies in the United States that

Regarding the idea of only taxing corporate distributions (including buybacks?) rather than profits: There are two types of companies in the United States that are taxed on retained earnings, not profits: bdc and reit. They can keep 4% of earnings but must distribute everything else otherwise those get taxed. Since those distributions are sent to people, they are taxed with personal income tax (though they are taxed at a much lower rate than earned income). What the author missed is that corporate taxes are a great way for legislators to perform graft. The more complex the tax code, the more campaign contributions and other support