I kind of agree, but with all sorts of hesitation. I agree that corporate tax is nearly impossible to police fairly or sanely and that this suggests something is broke deeper down.
OTOH, I don't think you achieve the same result with taxing dividends. First, I assume you mean capital gains or any income from investment. Just like corporation tax, this is full of loopholes, avoidance strategies and illegal but undetected non-payment. The latter moreso.
The crux of the matter is that when you have a greater control over ownership structures and the like, you can work around whatever definitions tax law puts in place.
I suspect that a clean fix of corporate tax, if it can be found at all, will be find in fundamentals of corporate law like the definition of a corporation and its rights. When it comes down to it, the legal entities that make up Google and incur (or don't) tax liabilities are pretty different from the entity in reality. All the transactions, fees and such between those "companies" are a lie.
OTOH, I don't think you achieve the same result with taxing dividends. First, I assume you mean capital gains or any income from investment. Just like corporation tax, this is full of loopholes, avoidance strategies and illegal but undetected non-payment. The latter moreso.
The crux of the matter is that when you have a greater control over ownership structures and the like, you can work around whatever definitions tax law puts in place.
I suspect that a clean fix of corporate tax, if it can be found at all, will be find in fundamentals of corporate law like the definition of a corporation and its rights. When it comes down to it, the legal entities that make up Google and incur (or don't) tax liabilities are pretty different from the entity in reality. All the transactions, fees and such between those "companies" are a lie.