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Comment by cjpearson | Hacker News Reader

Corporate taxes allow governments some level over control over corporate policy by incentivizing certain behaviors through deductions/credits etc. Also, dropping the corporate tax rate to 0 would probably be politically impossible, even an identical amount was then taxed on the individuals who benefit.

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On the other hand, corporate taxes advantage large multi-national corporations over smaller companies because they have the resources and capability to manoeuvre around the rules and pay a lower relative tax rate.

A government should be able to achieve control through Pigovian taxation, regulations and fines. I'm not convinced that a blanket corporate tax (which does indeed facilitate targeted tax breaks) is necessary beyond the other tools that already exist.

Corporate taxes should be structured more like usage fees instead of being a tax on profits. Want to emit carbon? It costs $X/ton. You shouldn't get away with doing bad stuff for free just because you did it unprofitably.

>Corporate taxes allow governments some level over control over corporate policy by incentivizing certain behaviors through deductions/credits etc.

Money is fungible. From an accounting perspective $1 given via tax credits is identical to $1 check given by the government. That said, your point is still valid because the former is much more politically palatable than the latter.

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