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by kristjansson·4y ago·view on hn ↗
Nope, and yup respectively.

All the discussion over corporate tax (and unrealized capital gains) seems rooted in pathos, not practical policy. It seems unfair that some corporation pays zero income tax while people pay xx%, so people write firebrand articles to argue that it's unfair.

Nevermind that pathways from corporate income to income an actual natural person can enjoy are patrolled pretty carefully by the taxman. Total receipts might be less than if corporate managers picked a suboptimal strategy, but the operating assumption of tax policymakers _must_ be that actors are rational and wealth-maximizing. We can't write tax policy that admits certain strategy then complain that receipts are lower under that strategy than they might be, just like you can't lose a game, and complain that you would've won if only your opponent was worse.