Can somebody smarter than me explain why we have corporate taxes at all? Why not move that tax burden to individual shareholders by reducing corporate tax to zero (thus eliminating the need to move money to shell companies around the world in a legal-but-sketchy manner like Apple and other companies do) but increase taxes on dividends and capital gains? That is, as long as the money stays in the corporation's accounts, where it is used to create jobs and fuel the economy, it is not subject to taxation. As soon shareholders gain on a personal level, then it is taxed.
I'm sure there's a really obvious reason why this isn't feasible, so I'm hoping someone can explain it to me. It seems to me there will always be a country/state/province that is willing to lower its corporate tax rates below everywhere else in order to entice businesses to relocate there, so isn't the logical conclusion to have a corporate tax rate of 0% but capture that revenue by increasing taxes on the individuals who personally gain from the profits of the company?
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