Sorta, but despite what some governments have decided, corporations typically aren’t people. Most companies don’t want to accumulate savings, the way humans do. Profit is cool, for sure, but companies don’t save up for retirement, or go on vacations, or have kids. So some buffer to survive a less profitable year, or a costly watermain break or something, is prudent but that’s where it might end.
Anything more than that, and maybe you hire some new staff, in which case that expense to you becomes income for your new employee, which they pay income tax on. Or you buy more merchandise, which the government may collect sales tax on. Or you may expand your office, and the government collects tax from the construction company and property tax on the new unit. Or you may offer a bonus to your existing employees, which is again income tax for them. Or you could issue dividends to shareholders, which they’re taxed on when they receive them.
So the logic is that the things a company spends its money on are taxed in different ways, and the corporate income tax is basically the catch-all for “and then the rest of the money you didn’t spend some other way”
Now, do we lowly humans typically get double-dipped when we have our income taxed, but then after that also sales tax when we buy stuff? Yes. Yes we do…
It makes plenty of sense for them to not be taxed on their gross revenue.
You’re thinking of this from a mega-corp standpoint when you should be thinking of this from a small business standpoint. Mega-corps really should be forced to abide by different rules, in my opinion.
Let’s imagine you own a bakery shop and it brought in $1,000,000 in revenue this year. You spent $400,000 on raw ingredients, $250,000 on salaries and personnel, and $150,000 on maintenance and equipment…etc
At the end of the year, your business would go bankrupt if it was expected to pay taxes on that million dollars, despite your operating expenditures eating up the grand majority of your year. Similarly, every dollar you spend and every dollar that is spent on wages or salaries is taxed anyways, first or second hand.
That’s why that exists.
It makes sense for small or even large businesses.
Where the whole thing breaks down is when you have mega corporations like we do today. Who have accumulated wealth, power, and influence well beyond the scope of what any of these laws and regulations were meant to handle
This just sounds to me like a strong argument for not letting corporations deduct expenditures from taxable revenue.
Holy shit what are these AI-ass essay length replies, tax corporations more you fucking squares.
Sorta, but despite what some governments have decided, corporations typically aren’t people. Most companies don’t want to accumulate savings, the way humans do. Profit is cool, for sure, but companies don’t save up for retirement, or go on vacations, or have kids. So some buffer to survive a less profitable year, or a costly watermain break or something, is prudent but that’s where it might end.
Anything more than that, and maybe you hire some new staff, in which case that expense to you becomes income for your new employee, which they pay income tax on. Or you buy more merchandise, which the government may collect sales tax on. Or you may expand your office, and the government collects tax from the construction company and property tax on the new unit. Or you may offer a bonus to your existing employees, which is again income tax for them. Or you could issue dividends to shareholders, which they’re taxed on when they receive them.
So the logic is that the things a company spends its money on are taxed in different ways, and the corporate income tax is basically the catch-all for “and then the rest of the money you didn’t spend some other way”
Now, do we lowly humans typically get double-dipped when we have our income taxed, but then after that also sales tax when we buy stuff? Yes. Yes we do…
It makes plenty of sense for them to not be taxed on their gross revenue.
You’re thinking of this from a mega-corp standpoint when you should be thinking of this from a small business standpoint. Mega-corps really should be forced to abide by different rules, in my opinion.
Let’s imagine you own a bakery shop and it brought in $1,000,000 in revenue this year. You spent $400,000 on raw ingredients, $250,000 on salaries and personnel, and $150,000 on maintenance and equipment…etc
At the end of the year, your business would go bankrupt if it was expected to pay taxes on that million dollars, despite your operating expenditures eating up the grand majority of your year. Similarly, every dollar you spend and every dollar that is spent on wages or salaries is taxed anyways, first or second hand.
That’s why that exists.
It makes sense for small or even large businesses.
Where the whole thing breaks down is when you have mega corporations like we do today. Who have accumulated wealth, power, and influence well beyond the scope of what any of these laws and regulations were meant to handle