> I am still confused as to why companies have to pay tax at all?
Because that's how we decided to build our societies. Money flows up very easily but doesn't flow down anywhere as fast, that's why we tax companies and people.
The sole purpose of a company is to make as much money as possible. Laws are there to make sure they do it safely (ie. don't send 12 years old kids to the mine, don't make employees work 7 days a week), make sure the system isn't abused (Amazon trucks use public infrastructures to deliver goods, why shouldn't they participate to the maintenance of said infrastructures ? &c.), and make sure the country benefits of having such companies operating within their borders.
Not sure about other countries but in France taxes are used to finance schools, universities, hospitals, justice courts, reduce the cost of doctor visits, train tickets, housing assistance, allowance for disabled people, active solidarity income, public education and a lot of other things.
I could find endless arguments to support why companies _should_ pay taxes but none to support the opposite, besides "I own a company and want to accumulate more money"
How's this for an argument against corporate taxation:
Corporations receive money from customers, and distribute to employees (salaries) and investors. It's just simple arithmetic. How does a tax on corporations impact these three stakeholders? It seems unlikely the burden falls entirely on investors. So should we burden these customers and employees with taxes? If the real goal is to tax the rich, why not tax investors? Also, corporations have shown they are most capable of avoiding taxation. How efficient is a tax on corporations when they can easily hire an army of tax lawyers and accountants? Would the world be a better place if those tax lawyers were doing something more productive?
The goal isn't to tax the rich, it's to internalize the costs of running a functioning society where those corporations and its members can actually exist.
Because that's how we decided to build our societies. Money flows up very easily but doesn't flow down anywhere as fast, that's why we tax companies and people.
The sole purpose of a company is to make as much money as possible. Laws are there to make sure they do it safely (ie. don't send 12 years old kids to the mine, don't make employees work 7 days a week), make sure the system isn't abused (Amazon trucks use public infrastructures to deliver goods, why shouldn't they participate to the maintenance of said infrastructures ? &c.), and make sure the country benefits of having such companies operating within their borders.
Not sure about other countries but in France taxes are used to finance schools, universities, hospitals, justice courts, reduce the cost of doctor visits, train tickets, housing assistance, allowance for disabled people, active solidarity income, public education and a lot of other things.
I could find endless arguments to support why companies _should_ pay taxes but none to support the opposite, besides "I own a company and want to accumulate more money"