You're also assuming that I buy from that corporation. Though we may pay it when we buy from that corporation, we are not beholden to buy from that corporation. In fact, we can choose to buy from another, and that we have different effective tax rates between corporations is the cause of this situation. Because these loopholes create different effective rates, it gives the companies employing them an unfair financial advantage.
There are many corporations that I never buy from; though I may indirectly benefit them, it is not a break-even proposition or a zero-sum game. If it is, all the other countries in the world that have a corporate income tax must be mad. We are mad simply in our inconsistency in applying the tax, not in its existence.
As an example, when a tax is placed on cigarettes, I benefit. I don't smoke, yet without this tax I am still required to subsidize the poor decisions made by smokers. My alternatives?
- Wait for a society where people make well-informed decisions
- Legislate towards that society by banning deleterious behavior
- Have money spent on a public advertising campaign informing people of the risks of the product said company is selling
Even in a society with universal health care, I still end up paying for this company's customers. (unless we're to trot out the argument that they die earlier, thus saving me the taxpayer money; the real ones to watch for are those health nuts)
Taxing corporations spreads the tax burden around, and this is a good thing.
