<story><title>The public has a right to know how companies that pay no taxes pull it off</title><url>http://larrysummers.com/2020/11/02/many-companies-pay-nothing-in-taxes-the-public-has-a-right-to-know-how-they-pull-it-off/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>adeptus</author><text>I am still confused as to why companies have to pay tax at all? If every single employee including owners already pay income tax, and IVA&amp;#x2F;GST&amp;#x2F;purchase taxes, property taxes, xyz additional personal taxes levied by respective governments, why then on top of all that make companies pay tax, doesn&amp;#x27;t that just detract from people wanting to start companies and&amp;#x2F;or seek countries with the least taxes&amp;#x2F;best loopholes?&lt;p&gt;Disclaimer: I own no companies. I don&amp;#x27;t even own stocks at the moment.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>lm28469</author><text>&amp;gt; I am still confused as to why companies have to pay tax at all?&lt;p&gt;Because that&amp;#x27;s how we decided to build our societies. Money flows up very easily but doesn&amp;#x27;t flow down anywhere as fast, that&amp;#x27;s why we tax companies and people.&lt;p&gt;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&amp;#x27;t send 12 years old kids to the mine, don&amp;#x27;t make employees work 7 days a week), make sure the system isn&amp;#x27;t abused (Amazon trucks use public infrastructures to deliver goods, why shouldn&amp;#x27;t they participate to the maintenance of said infrastructures ? &amp;amp;c.), and make sure the country benefits of having such companies operating within their borders.&lt;p&gt;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.&lt;p&gt;I could find endless arguments to support why companies _should_ pay taxes but none to support the opposite, besides &amp;quot;I own a company and want to accumulate more money&amp;quot;</text></comment>
<story><title>The public has a right to know how companies that pay no taxes pull it off</title><url>http://larrysummers.com/2020/11/02/many-companies-pay-nothing-in-taxes-the-public-has-a-right-to-know-how-they-pull-it-off/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>adeptus</author><text>I am still confused as to why companies have to pay tax at all? If every single employee including owners already pay income tax, and IVA&amp;#x2F;GST&amp;#x2F;purchase taxes, property taxes, xyz additional personal taxes levied by respective governments, why then on top of all that make companies pay tax, doesn&amp;#x27;t that just detract from people wanting to start companies and&amp;#x2F;or seek countries with the least taxes&amp;#x2F;best loopholes?&lt;p&gt;Disclaimer: I own no companies. I don&amp;#x27;t even own stocks at the moment.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>linuxftw</author><text>In the US, some companies do not pay tax, the shareholders pay the tax on any income (S Corporations).  Sole proprietors and partnerships are the same.  C Corporations are like a legally distinct &amp;#x27;person&amp;#x27;, and what they pay in salaries, etc, are deductions.&lt;p&gt;It is 100% possible for a C corporation to pay no tax because it pays out all profits (income minus deductions) or operates at a loss.&lt;p&gt;Many large firms are hiring contractors to perform &amp;#x27;capex&amp;#x27; work that qualifies for R&amp;amp;D Tax credits: &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.cpajournal.com&amp;#x2F;2017&amp;#x2F;10&amp;#x2F;30&amp;#x2F;u-s-research-development-tax-credit&amp;#x2F;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.cpajournal.com&amp;#x2F;2017&amp;#x2F;10&amp;#x2F;30&amp;#x2F;u-s-research-developme...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;Tax laws drive some crazy incentives.</text></comment>