Lets say you start a lawncare business and buy a lawnmower for $1000. You don’t manage to get that many customers the first year, and only make exactly $1000. You haven’t lost money, but didn’t make any profit either.
Should you now have to pay tax on those $1000 dollars of revenue, causing you to have lost money despite your hard work? Where would you even get that money from to pay the tax?
I think the problem is not the basic system, but that the rules are too complex and have loopholes that allow you to pay less tax if you are an expert on the rules - or have enough money that it’s worth it to hire one.
Well you still have the lawn mower, which you can sell. But you’ll get less than you paid for it (you might get $400) – and I think that difference ($600) is the only part that should be exempt from taxes
Surely businesses’ investments can’t be written off? If they could, that would be a massive flaw in the system
They can, and I think it makes a lot of sense.
Lets say you start a lawncare business and buy a lawnmower for $1000. You don’t manage to get that many customers the first year, and only make exactly $1000. You haven’t lost money, but didn’t make any profit either.
Should you now have to pay tax on those $1000 dollars of revenue, causing you to have lost money despite your hard work? Where would you even get that money from to pay the tax?
I think the problem is not the basic system, but that the rules are too complex and have loopholes that allow you to pay less tax if you are an expert on the rules - or have enough money that it’s worth it to hire one.
Well you still have the lawn mower, which you can sell. But you’ll get less than you paid for it (you might get $400) – and I think that difference ($600) is the only part that should be exempt from taxes