Bird, R. (1996). Why Tax

¶ … Bird, R. (1996). Why tax corporations? International Centre for Tax Studies Working Paper 96-2.

This article is presented in the context of a tax system in Canada that is unable to meet revenue needs without some type of corporation tax, yet in a policy and theoretical situation where few economists can pose rationales for taxing corporations as such when they are responsible for generating/collecting many other types of tax. The overall context of an economically successful environment and pressure for low tax rates on corporations informs this writing.

Throughout the article, the author's objective is to establish a clear reasoning behind the taxing of corporations, exploring fundamental practical, ethical, and sociopolitical reasons behind the need for taxing corporations. The objective is not so much to argue for policy change and a specific tax structure, but rather to provide a justification or justifications for a general tax structure that includes corporate taxation at some level.

Research Design, Setting, Participants

As this article does not present any original empirical research, it is difficult to assess in terms of any particular research design framework: there is no true setting other than the overall economic context as described above, nor are there any "participants" aside from previous research consulted and cited, various policies and economic events and trends examined, and other qualitative and quantitative phenomenon and elements that influence the economics of corporate profits and taxation. The basic methodology of the research was a careful synthesis of existing theories and observations as a means of constructing an internally valid and consistent logical argument in favor of corporate taxation.

Results/Findings