I would prefer they raised it to 90%.
Not to mention that the money spent on corporate taxes is paid by the consumer.
A) Corporations that don't like paying UK corporation taxes (like Google and Facebook) already try to evade by declaring their income in Ireland. Except that doesn't work when it's plainly false as demonstrated when HMRC recognized this. If HMRC chose it could rake in even more via fines from Google (weird that they didn't).
B) Big shareholders and large corporations suffer the most from high corporate taxes since they earn the most in dividends.
C) The tax incidence of corporate taxes falls on big shareholders. At a time when corporate profits and inequality are at all time highs the space to squeeze shareholders has never actually been greater.
This is just cynical opportunism by Osborne. He sees a way to reward his friends and he's taking it.
Which is what happened: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-23019514
Turns out threatening large corporations actually works pretty fucking well. We could do a lot more of that.
Do you want all businesses (that can) to move out of the country?
That's not to say corporations should not be taxed (although a coherent argument could be made for zero corporation tax), but certainly taxing corporations out of existence is a bad idea.
So why would you want that?
Just because they are better off now in relative terms, it doesn't justify how much more of the share in terms of land, resources and overall wealth the rich and and elite are taking for themselves.
That's how it's suppsoed to work. What actually happens is they lobby for evebn more favourable tax arrangment and deregulation, for weaker worker protections and focus primarily on short-term returns for their shareholders at the expense of all else.
The whole 'job creator' myth needs to be put to rest. It's straigh out of trickle-down Reaganomics. Corps are self-serving, psychopathic and amoral and cannot be trusted or expected to behave with a social conscience.
I'm all for worker rights. I don't think running companies and worker rights are mutually exclusive things.
If it was a co-operative then I'd agree.
It comes down to people. Some people are good people and will run a company well. Regardless of its tax status. Some are bastards and will act accordingly. This kind of thing, as cliche' as it sounds, starts at home. Bastards are cultivated, not born. The thing is by saying to someone you can run your company but I'll take 90% of your profit comrade, you are basically telling them not to bother. And to those that already bothered you're saying - stay as you were. Do not attempt growth. Besides, why stop at 90%? Why not just take it all?
In the last 60 years or more we've had a free-for-all of deregulation, slashing of tax rates for the upper tiers of society and an ever-widening division of wealth and prosperity as a result.
Tax the ever loving shit out of them. Bury them up to their eyeballs in regulation. Ban commercial and investment banks from being one and the same.
Obviously I've not thought this out fully, but I'm pissed off at how much of a disgrace our current societal bias towards the the already wealthy and privileged is.