Caymen,
I'm not the one that started by making the absurd statement. My logic holds. If what YOU said is true, than what I said is true. But of course, what I said isn't true, so THEREFORE, your logic is f'ed up! No offense.
Take a breath. Read. You might learn something and see why so many people here have flipped the bozo switch on you and what you have said.
Read on...
Clearly many corporations do pay taxes! You claim they do not. The reasoning you say they don't is because they simply pass the costs of the taxes they pay to the consumer. That may be HOW they pay their taxes, but they do pay their taxes.
Likewise, corporations that pay taxes can decide how and when they pay their taxes, to a large extent. There is a corporate accounting term can NEBT (net-earnings before taxes) which in some large part defines the corporate taxes due on earnings. Again, I'm talking about taxes on earnings, in this case net earnings.
Most corporations attempt to keep NEBT as small as possible. Things that reduce their net earnings are operational costs such as salaries and benefits paid, etc. Also, companies can wish to invest in research (R&D) and these investments can help offset NEBT.
Now, if you were to say that many corporations pay very little in taxes, then that's a statement worth discussing and one which has a lot of merit. A good corporate account will work to make sure that the taxes a company pays on earnings is small, using mechanisms I've described.
But pretty much all corporations pay some type of tax (note, you didn't differentiate corporate taxes on earnings, vs other forms of taxes...of which there are many).
Where these corporations get these funds to pay these taxes is secondary to the fact that they do actually PAY taxes. You are trying to say otherwise, which simply is asnine.
Just as where you or I get the funds to pay for the things we pay for doesn't negate the fact that we pay for them. You've made that case based on my absurd statement based on your logic. So, please use consistent logic, or recant your original absurd statement.
Words have meanings. The word "pay", for example, from Merriam Webster has several meanings:
pay
a : to make due return to for services rendered or property delivered b : to engage for money : hire <you couldn't pay me to do that>
2a : to give in return for goods or service <pay wages> b : to discharge indebtedness for : settle <pay a bill> c : to make a disposal or transfer of (money)
3: to give or forfeit in expiation or retribution <pay the penalty>
4a : to make compensation for b : to requite according to what is deserved <pay them back>
5: to give, offer, or make freely or as fitting <pay attention> <pay your respects>
6a : to return value or profit to <it pays you to stay open> b : to bring in as a return <an investment paying five percent>
Note, that in none of these common meanings for the word "pay" does the origin of the funds in any way come into the picture. The root of the monies used for payment does not in any way negate the fact that payment is made.
Words have meaning. Say what you mean, mean what you say, and try to use words that have a common meaning.
Now, if you had said:
Corporations don't pay taxes the same way you or I do. Unlike us, corporations pay much of their taxes by passing the costs on to you or in the prices they charge us for their goods and services. Therefore, we indirectly pay corporate taxes.
Now, had you said that, you would have made your point. But not have said something that is clearly inaccurate: That corporations pay no taxes. That's clearly just not the case.
P.S. I read what you said. It's not until several follow-on posts that you can begin to understand what it is that you are trying to say.
Say what you mean the first time. If you are trying to say that corporations can do, and do do lots of things to avoid paying taxes, then I will agree with that. They are all legal. And most are quite fine with me. Corporations should pay taxes on profits to the tax jurisdiction under which they operatate and should pay their share of employment taxes to the tax jurisdictions of their employees. Beyond that, if they use the corporate and employee tax codes to reduce their tax burden, legally, then good for them.
Corps can do a lot to avoid paying taxes. Most do so legally. So what.
Corporations pay enough taxes just in employment taxes. Smaller govt, less taxes, less picking of my pocket and my employers pocket will allow corps, small businesses, and individuals to prosper, and the ones that work the hardest and the smartest will prosper the most. The only people that don't want that are those looking for welfare, workfare, to be propped up, and for the world to freeze circa 1950...which isn't going to happen.
TJR