Daniel Altman: It's Time to Abolish the Corporate Income Tax

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[aarongrooves]

Here's an idea: how about we abolish all income taxes along with the federal reserve, and then have our government print its own money and stop paying interest on a service that we can do ourselves. Income taxes doesn't make the government run; it makes private bankers rich. But even better, let's abolish the entire monetary system, which is a scam. Resource based economy!

[waltermatthewberg]

The income tax needs to be abolished along with government borrowing and the Federal Reserve system and fractional reserve lending. Any sovereign state can issue its own credit without a national debt or robbing the citizens directly.

[MrApplewine]

If you want to tax rich people then tax rich people, but corporate income taxes are just stupid because you aren't taxing anybody specifically.

[kmarinas]

The video should be renamed "Replacing the Corporate Income Tax with a Wealth Tax", as 99% of the people in the comment section didn't notice that he is suggesting a replacement. Here is an interesting fact: Wealth distribution is more unequal than income distribution. The reason behind this fact is simple: Accrued income can earn interest, while accrued debt costs interest. In short, the snowballing of wealth means that taxing wealth is more progressive than taxing any form of income.

[CanyoneroTimbo]

thank you for the "facts." I'm going to need some sources, tho. after reading that you believe in a young earth, and a global flood, I can't trust what you consider a fact. I can't just take your word for it. you understand.

[MrBigunALE]

I kept expecting him to say "But WAIT, there's MORE! If you order now, we'll DOUBLE you're order... yes, that's right, you get TWO! But hurry, supplies are limited!"

[Thornarg]

0:40 He's right, there *is* no corporate income tax: It's a *profit* tax. Pretty much any expenditure is deductible.

[malomaboy]

There's nothing inherently wrong with the idea of suggesting the tax code is overly complex. What doesn't follow is arguing that the logical conclusion of that realization is to add a component of the tax code whereby "wealth" (as opposed to income) is an additional factor to calculate the tax rates. That's adding, not reducing, complexity.

The argument that corporate income is inconsistent doesn't justify dispensing with additional revenue to the state. Restricted revenue is not preferable to inconsistent revenue.

[GarenPhillips]

He's saying that know one knows who pays it because as a CEO of a corp, you can delegate your profit margins by raising or lowering your sales price of your products. if i have to pay the government 10% on all goods sold, i just raise my profit margin 10% and you as a customer pay it for me.

He also says its unstable because my corp could spend 23mil on expenses for the year, and sell 25mil, so 2mil profit, but i could buy land or an asset for 2mil, write it off as expense, and pay no tax on it

[Wowfunnyjunior]

THIS! Holy hell this. For gods sake do it!!!! I cannot stress enough how amazing this would be.

[francoisquesnay]

The fact that someone disagrees with you doesn't imply that they are corrupt. Most economists oppose the corporate tax, and Daniel Altman was an editor for a economics based newspaper - a conservative economics based newspaper no less. He also proposed an alternative that would tax the owners of capital far more consistently, and I believe more efficiently.

[gef]

Such very poor reasoning.  People can also make more or less money a year, so should they also not be taxed, because it's not consistent?  This guy is paid to say this stuff, obviously.

[CuriousEarthlings]

Do you use roads and sidewalks? Did you go to school? Do you like having access to police and fire rescue? That's all a result of tax money. By paying taxes, you contribute to the growth and maintenance of your society.

That being said. The US tax system IS overly complex sluggish.

[jakepelter]

That last sentence is full of events that are rarities rather than things that are common. Churches in America feed many people, provide funds for the poor, and shelter.

[ConcaveEarth]

Literally no politician currently in office would ever say that. Corporations paid for their campaigns and candidates need corporate funding to be re-elected.

[mouthpiece]

Yes thats exactly right. If corporations didn't pay taxes in the US, they would flock here and stay here, and Americans would have more jobs than they could ever want.

[dangerouslytalented]

actually, often you will find that the executives, not the investors nor the owners, are getting a massively disproportionate amount of the income, through collossal salaries and bonuses. And they are deliberately selling the future of their companies short in order to boost short term revenue to increase executive bonuses. A big example is Hostess, the maker of Twinkies.

[glanemann]

That's insane. Just because you went to a public school does not mean you owe anything back. No one owes no one NOTHING!

[llamallama]

The seasons have become more erratic around the world, the number of hurricanes is rising tropical plants are migrating north, glaciers are receding at unprecedented rates, the numbers of floods are increasing. There you go.

[Drakous]

20% is basically already taken out of your check from SS, Medicare, and Federal taxes. So people making less wouldn't actually notice the difference.