[CompelTechnic]

Your argument advocating that the gas station increase its prices 4% does not fully consider the fact that businesses are risky, and it does not consider how unfair the situation remains for the owner. If this 4% increase did occur, the new revenue figure is $1,092,000. With $92,000 of profit before tax, the owner is now paying $43,680 of taxes, leaving $48,320 of profit after tax (much better than before). They are still paying 47% taxes on their profit before tax.

The degree to which businesses generate expenses is the majority of the degree to which they take on risk. It's pretty well understood that most economies are already too risk-averse. We should not further punish those willing to take risk.

The thrust of my argument is focused around the fact that low margin businesses would have an EXTREMELY high sensitivity to variable cash flows. I should have focused more on how unfair this is to small businesses, which already are a risky proposition. It is strange to me that multiple people have replied without having any acknowledgement of this.

The benefits of taxation must be balanced against the potential for abuse and the damage it does to the businesses that are taxed.

Taxing revenue would likely have less potential for abuse, but I would argue the damage it would do to the economy would be much larger than the benefit this may provide.