I've always wondered exactly this. Corporations aren't people. Why are we taxing them?
I think it gets a little trickier then the interview goes, though.
What's to prevent say, Bank of America, from buying its execs (and employees for that matter) second homes and cars and vacations with un-taxed money instead of paying them money directly in salary or in dividends?
> Corporations aren't people. Why are we taxing them?
IMO it is payment for special privileges. Limited-liability corporations are a way for owners (stockholders) to ask the government to give them a special exemption to avoid responsibility for certain mistakes or unprovable maliciousness.
Imagine a Deepwater-Horizon situation. If the corporation is bankrupt and the still-solvent investors are allowed to walk away and ignore the mess... Who fixes things, and whose money gets used?
I think it gets a little trickier then the interview goes, though.
What's to prevent say, Bank of America, from buying its execs (and employees for that matter) second homes and cars and vacations with un-taxed money instead of paying them money directly in salary or in dividends?