You might also be interested in
Replies (2)
Please login or register to join the discussion.
Bang on the nail
Simon is bang on the nail about economists.
All economics is a faith system, based on a series of assumptions. In the case of market economics one of those assumptions is that all corporations are run solely in the interests of members. Another is that management maximises profit on members behalf. A third is that corporations can't pay tax. They only do so as agent for their members.
All of these assumptions are wrong. It doesn't work like that, as we all know. In the last case it's because a) corporations retain profits and so members don't pay tax on that part of the income - only the corporation does b) corporations are used to divert profits between locations and therefore change the tax rate suffered by members and so change the tax take and c) the income tax and corporation tax systems of the world are not, and cannot be perfectly aligned and as such corporations have to pay tax or double non-taxation will occur.
But economists assume otherwise. Prof Mike Devereux said so recently on the world service. It's why economists should not be part of this debate. They live in another world.
Richard is right
Richard is spot on here. These chin stroking events get us nowhere.
Until we have a conference including Joe Tradeperson, Bob businessman and Eric the Employee then we are going to get nowhere.
The overwhelming requirement of a tax system is that it is understandable by the average person with average intelligence and a full diary.
NeilW