> After all, I pay income taxes on all my income, not on the savings after I have spent my money.
Actually, you, like a corporation, pay taxes on income after deductible expenses, and you, unlike a corporation, even get the privilege of assuming a certain amount of deductible expenses without proving it.
OTOH, almost everything a corporation can do with money other than lock it in a vault is a deductible expense, so there is that.
> Why should companies get to pay taxes on "profit" and not on revenue?
In theory, I think, because corporations are legal fictions and the actual benefits that their shareholders, employees, etc. -- the non-fictional people involved -- derive from them are taxed as personal income or capital gains, and corporate tax serves as a fee on delaying those personal taxes by retaining profits in the corporation.
Actually, you, like a corporation, pay taxes on income after deductible expenses, and you, unlike a corporation, even get the privilege of assuming a certain amount of deductible expenses without proving it.
OTOH, almost everything a corporation can do with money other than lock it in a vault is a deductible expense, so there is that.
> Why should companies get to pay taxes on "profit" and not on revenue?
In theory, I think, because corporations are legal fictions and the actual benefits that their shareholders, employees, etc. -- the non-fictional people involved -- derive from them are taxed as personal income or capital gains, and corporate tax serves as a fee on delaying those personal taxes by retaining profits in the corporation.