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I do get the arguments, I just think they tend to end up with quite broad statements like "properly enforced tax on companies". Ok, but when you say properly enforced, what do you mean? The more you remove deductions etc the closer your CT comes to being a sales tax, and I don't think a sales tax works unless it is consumer only unless you want to destroy any supply chain (so you end up with it being like VAT with input that can be deducted).
A bunch of the stuff you talk about above seems to conflate VAT with corporation tax in how companies can offset costs, which is a bigger question... I suppose my point is that all those knocking VAT might miss the fact that it gives a (very difficult to avoid) charge collected by and paid by big companies that otherwise do have strategies to avoid tax. So I'd be pretty cautious about getting rid as I think the alternatives might well end up worse - i.e. more chance for big cos to dodge the tax and a bigger disparity between small + large companies / groups
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andyfallsoff
@snottyotter
I think they're saying that general schmucks like me are paying 20% on basically everything, it's a fair whack, especially if you're not earning much. Arsecorp are paying their 20% on some stuff, but also offsetting some of that against their costs, lawyers to bring those costs down, "charity work" or team building or whatever other way they can to pay less, whilst I still pay full whack as an individual, and certainly won't have too many creative ways as a small business to get those same benefits. Maybe less VAT and properly enforced, progressive tax on companies would lead to similar prices overall if they just put them off to offset getting charged tax properly, but that wouldn't be the case across the board so nonarsesmallco could maybe charge less for stuff, or buy things in cheaper and maybe make enough money to need to be taxed properly and do so, and the tax burden is closer to where it should be.