One of my biggest shocks of running a profitable small company is how much of that profit vanishes into (Iraq, GM, Bank Bailouts, etc....).
It seems that the large companies have enough accountants, divisions, and clever ways to avoid taxes that they pay a tiny percent, but small business don't really have much available and end up eating the full bill. I'm paying about 55% between federal and state taxes.
There's almost an unhealthy incentive to blow money rather than make any profit, isn't there? Before I folded my little company, I'd routinely buy shit that I really didn't need since I could justify it as a business expense. Oh well.
I highly encourage people to expense things they'd have to pay for anyway (e.g. health club memberships, cell phones, parking passes, subway cards, etc). Just make sure you talk to your accountant first.
When people talk about taxing the rich, it usually translates in the real world to sacking it to the people/businesses who have just moved out of the middle class and are finally reaching a growth stage. The mature big businesses all have all sorts of location and tax options they can use. Truly rich people live where they want and pay what taxes they choose to pay. So whatever the motive, the result of these policies is that you end up sticking the biggest burden on the pieces of the economy that are just beginning to grow, provide value, and are most likely to produce even more jobs and value. Kind of a shoot-yourself-in-the-foot-to-make-headache-go-away strategy.
It seems that the large companies have enough accountants, divisions, and clever ways to avoid taxes that they pay a tiny percent, but small business don't really have much available and end up eating the full bill. I'm paying about 55% between federal and state taxes.