The President of the United States of America does not understand this most economic basic truth.

ONLY PEOPLE CAN PAY TAXES! Not businesses, or cars, or trees, or toilets, etc.

How can we expect the idiots who voted for this president to understand it?

Gasoline is not a person so we can't tax gasoline either.

People only earn money, they aren't money, so they can't be made to pay taxes, since only the government owns the money.

Makes about as much gottverdammt sense as that hot, sick mess...

I am ok with corporations being defined as "not people" and therefore not subjectable to a tax *if* that also means we can gut the Citizens United decision and every Supreme Court decision stretching back to Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad that legally defines a corporation's personage.

This is what Republicans actually believe.

Corporations are founded at the pleasure of the people. Therefore the people, through the government get to decide on how they are run. If we want to tax them 100%, 0%, or any number in between, then pass a law and do it.

Just don't infer rights onto something that is not a person. The people owning and running the corporation have rights, the corporation itself has none.

GAT_00: This is what Republicans actually believe.

GAT_00: This is what Republicans actually believe.

If you take out the ideological demagoguery, his argument isn't all that crazy: (1) Corporations are not people (2) Only people have the capacity to pay taxes therefore (3) we should eliminate the corporate tax burden on American businesses. So, yeah, I guess that is part of what the Republicans actually believe.

So what you're saying is that the right wing's whining about 47% of people not paying any federal income taxes at all is total bullshiat, because the income taxes that are levied on corporations are being passed on to them in the form of higher prices, and in effect they are paying those corporations' taxes? Good to hear; I'm sure that will make the Tea Partiers and GOP presidential candidates shut up about the unfair tax burden.

i agree with the article, but i'm going to throw this out there as an insane idea. what if we made the corporations "pay the taxes" by lowering dividends. yes this sucks from the investors point of view, but if all companies making $X in revenue had to do it, the investors would just need to know that they will be buying into lower dividends.

Governments aren't people. Only people can get smaller. Therefore when you reduce the size of government who gets smaller?

You can't have it both ways people. if you want the rights that come with personhood (free "speech" aka unlimited campaign spending) you have to accept the responsibility (taxes) that comes with it.

Republicans, the party of having their cake and stuffing their fat faces with it too.

The IRS isn't a person, therefore cannot collect taxes. When taxes are collected by the IRS, who receives them?

Wendy's Chili: No it is crazy. And really, really dumb.

Which is of course why Republicans like it.

This is the dumbest goddamm thought of all time.

A fertilized egg is a person, so it has to pay taxes!

Wait, are corporations people or not?

When a fine is levied against a corporation for the illegal actions taken by the executive suite, who pays the bribe to the SEC? The shareholders.

Blow me where the pampers is, Townhall. Your blog sucks.

Soylent Green, however, is still people.

A corporation is not a person and therefore cannot pay taxes. When tax is levied on a corporation, who pays it?

corporations have bank accounts, so I'd suppose the money to pay those taxes would come from their bank accounts.

TFA only started to make sense after the halfway point, but nobody in Washington is going to want to scrap the corporate tax/subsidy racket they've got going. It's an awesome opportunity for congressmembers to sell their votes and they're not just going to walk away from that.

Wendy's Chili: The people who work for the corporation have the capacity to pay tax bills just like they have the capacity to pay suppliers and collect payments from customers.

Then you can increase their bosses' income taxes while eliminating their corporation's tax burden. It's a hell of a lot tougher for an individual douchebag to argue that he should get a break on his individual taxes than it is for a business to argue via lobbyists for special preferences.

ignatiusst: If you take out the ideological demagoguery, his argument isn't all that crazy: (1) Corporations are not people (2) Only people have the capacity to pay taxes therefore (3) we should eliminate the corporate tax burden on American businesses. So, yeah, I guess that is part of what the Republicans actually believe.

If only.

I don't see a single likely Republican nominee or Republican congressmember arguing for elimination of taxes on businesses. At best you get somebody like Huntsman arguing for a cut in corporate tax rates from 35 to 25, which still leaves in place all the possibilities for gaming the system.

"Close loopholes" is the cry of the chump. One loophole closes, five others open.

The only way to beat The Man in this case is to not have any system to game.

Besides, what's one of those big-swinging-dick executives going to say against unloading an enormous compliance hassle in exchange for higher individual tax bills for him and his rich buddies?

Gulper Eel: "Close loopholes" is the cry of the chump. One loophole closes, five others open.

That mentality disturbs me. Not yours, but the one you imply. That's what made McCain/Feingold such a disaster. Well-intentioned legislation that was ruined when everyone tried to find ways around it.

It's impossible to create iron-clad legislation, regulations, and rules. So what's the solution to greed and ego?

/depressingly rhetorical

Seriously. That's absurd. I agree that a corporation is not a person. (Thus we should get rid of all that "corporate person" nonsense.) However, a corporation CAN have money. That's part of the limited liability framework that having a corporation is all about. The corporation has assets, debits, etc. so that the people behind it aren't completely liable if it goes tits up. Those assets can be taxable just the same as any other assets. It generates income that can be just as taxable as a person's income.

Diogenes: It's impossible to create iron-clad legislation, regulations, and rules. So what's the solution to greed and ego?

"The lesson is, never try."

Wait, so Corporations are people when it comes to voting and campaign support, but not people when it comes to taxes?

Diogenes: That mentality disturbs me. Not yours, but the one you imply. That's what made McCain/Feingold such a disaster. Well-intentioned legislation that was ruined when everyone tried to find ways around it.

It's impossible to create iron-clad legislation, regulations, and rules.

Some problems do not lend themselves to political solutions, but politicians will persist in chasing political solutions because there are enough voters who still think that everything will be peachy if only we just give enough power to the best and brightest.

So what's the solution to greed and ego?

Break it down to individuals, as I said downthread. And eliminate the governing class' ability to hide the cost of government by shifting it to a middleman like business.

I don't have to like paying taxes, but I should be able to calculate what I pay and make a decision on whether I'm getting my money's worth, without having to jump through hoops.

I can see what I paid in income tax and payroll tax. I can see what I paid in property tax, school taxes, county taxes and so forth.

Sales taxes are hellish to calculate without being a fiend about keeping receipts, but they do have the upside of bringing in revenue from people who work off the books.

Being able to see what part of the goods and services I buy is the sellers' tax nut? All but impossible.

Being able to see how much more I could have been paid (and how much more I'd be taxed) if my boss didn't have to fork over a pile of money to Washington? Also impossible.

where does it say anywhere in anything ever written that only a "person" has the capacity to pay taxes?

if it is legally permitted to receive income, it is legally capable of paying taxes on it.

f*cking idiots everywhere.

Gulper Eel: Being able to see how much more I could have been paid (and how much more I'd be taxed) if my boss didn't have to fork over a pile of money to Washington? Also impossible.


No, it's not impossible. Federal receipts show 12% comes from corporate tax. You can do the math.

ignatiusst: If you take out the ideological demagoguery, his argument isn't all that crazy: (1) Corporations are not people (2) Only people have the capacity to pay taxes therefore (3) we should eliminate the corporate tax burden on American businesses. So, yeah, I guess that is part of what the Republicans actually believe.

Where does it say that only people have the capacity to pay taxes? Find me some basis in the law.

hillbillypharmacist: Federal receipts show 12% comes from corporate tax. You can do the math.

That 12% is a number signifying total corporate tax revenue. Depending on which businesses make the most buddies in Washington and wangle the most breaks, what my particular employer actually pays to Washington can be all over the map.

Like I said, good luck figuring it out.

Gulper Eel: That 12% is a number signifying total corporate tax revenue. Depending on which businesses make the most buddies in Washington and wangle the most breaks, what my particular employer actually pays to Washington can be all over the map.

Like I said, good luck figuring it out.

This isn't some f*cking riddle. There isn't a spiritual component to taxation. You could ask them for their tax records, and then you'd know. And even if they didn't, it doesn't mean it's somehow unknowable.

hillbillypharmacist: This isn't some f*cking riddle. There isn't a spiritual component to taxation. You could ask them for their tax records, and then you'd know. And even if they didn't, it doesn't mean it's somehow unknowable.

How can you tell how much federal income tax a publicly traded company pays in a specific year? You can't.

Care to revise your remarks?

A store is not a person, therefore free Doritos.