The mega-rich, including corporations, work with the government (bribery, oops, I mean campaign donations) to ensure there are loopholes in place to avoid taxes.
While the average citizen can attempt to minimize his obligation, he has very little opportunity to do so. In the US, most people (about 60%) do better taking the standard deduction vs itemizing their deductions.
Yes there is. It may not be legally wrong, but it sure is morally wrong. What matters is the spirit of the law. The fact that big corporations can hire squads of lawyers and search and identify loopholes that allow them to pay outrageously low taxes on outrageously high revenues doesn't make it morally acceptable, even if they technically are following the letter of the law.
Add to that the fact that these loopholes and exploits are kept in place by fierce (and expensive) lobbying efforts from those very same companies and people.
Ah now. Governments don't just use taxes to raise revenue, but also for incentives. If they tax moving cash abroad to help with the balance of payments and you restructure your company to avoid doing this then everyone is happy. It doesn't excuse manipulating the government to make favourable tax laws however.
This quote sounds almost ironically similar to this quip from Anatole France: The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread.
The specific ruling that was posted seems to be that Amazon and Apple acted illegally and hence are liable for back taxes. The wider point is what OP was making, by my reading, and which the comment I replied to was refuting.
This is very important in deciding to pay taxes at all, and highly salient for people trying to impact tax legislation.
In terms of tax _burden_, though, it's quite odd to do anything but minimize taxation, and the extent of minimization cannot be extrapolated to social health or social costs.
The primary mechanism the government has to shape the economy is through taxation. It's not just transferring cash to the collective public coffers, there are specific reasons the government wants or doesn't want certain kinds of spending and certain kinds of economic relationships. You get a mortgage deduction because house ownership has perceived social benefits, for example. You get write offs for specific programs, or kinds of spending the gov wants to encourage. By ignoring the relevant tax-regime you are also ignoring the economic directives of your elected government.
At the same time: overpaying on your taxes is a highly inefficient way to do just about anything. Send post-tax cash to the DOD, NHS, charities, political parties, or to Lockheed-Martin directly, if you're so inclined. This will always yield more direct impact then indirect funding through government taxes.
Legal tax minimization is good for the economy and lets capital move 'intelligently' towards desired outcomes. It lets legislators shape the cradle-to-grave picture while maintaining representational control. Illegal tax minimization is criminal :)
Disagree.
Legality does not equate to morality.