For the privilege of continued access to a workforce that was educated by public schooling
For access to roads that are maintained by tax dollars
For environmental damages and other negative externalities that the tax payer has to pay to clean up
For an army and police system that allows the flow of commerce to continue without attacks and interruption
For a sovereign wealth fund if there is a surplus of tax revenue one year
For a court system so that corporations can continue to sue each other
To secure the population access to vaccines to reduce the spread of Covid and other diseases
To fund libraries that help the local population
To build sea ports and airports that provide the economy with better trade and transportation
These are some common things taxes are spent on but they are not reasons why corporations shouldn’t pay taxes on their free cash flow, revenue, or some other financial statement line item (FSLI) instead of their profit.
You’re describing taxes. But why specifically taxes on profits? Why not taxes on things like property? Payroll? Sales taxes on things they buy? The myriad of taxes their employees pay?
We now have a situation were the tax code is intractably complex because of DECADES of finagling by the wealthy and their corporations to set things up strictly and shamelessly in their favor.
Sorry, but I just can't feel any sympathy for corporations and the wealthy who reap massive profit, in part, because they've long ago set up loopholes and laws to avoid paying a fair share.
So what is a fair share? Well, for starters, one that doesn't rely on a 2+ million word tax code and reams of related laws most of which serve to make exceptions for the wealthy.
If you strictly and only tax consumption and property, you will have large segments of the population living hand-to-mouth, trapped in a vicious cycle of poverty and and hard labor in a hole that requires super-human or generational effort to get out of. Meanwhile, those who started with a leg up will continue to accelerate their net-worth. There are people who "make money" by "having money" and under your rules those people would only pay taxes on the fees they pay to their money manager. We aren't THAT far from that now were it not for the miserly 15% investment income tax.
I realize the typical HN-libertarian-calvinist view is that everything needs to be transactional. Transactional down to the level that the taxes someone pays would ideally go towards the services that they as an individual use, and that everyone needs to work in order order to be "worthy" of a social-safety-net (assuming a safety-net has to exist, which isn't a given in such points of view). It doesn't have to be that way but sadly there are motions in that direction.
Net worth taxes exist in a small number of places in Europe. It appears to be unpopular because it causes people to hide their assets and invest in assets that are harder to place a value on. Some places just have a property tax instead.
Revenue is taxed in many places; it’s called sales tax. Profit is also taxed. It is called an income tax / corporate tax.
Humans can deduct things so they are taxed at their profits. It's just that rules are not straightforward and what counts as a deductible expense is not the same for both. So you are aiming at the wrong level for a critique. See https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26698446
For access to roads that are maintained by tax dollars
For environmental damages and other negative externalities that the tax payer has to pay to clean up
For an army and police system that allows the flow of commerce to continue without attacks and interruption
For a sovereign wealth fund if there is a surplus of tax revenue one year
For a court system so that corporations can continue to sue each other
To secure the population access to vaccines to reduce the spread of Covid and other diseases
To fund libraries that help the local population
To build sea ports and airports that provide the economy with better trade and transportation
These are some common things taxes are spent on but they are not reasons why corporations shouldn’t pay taxes on their free cash flow, revenue, or some other financial statement line item (FSLI) instead of their profit.