[chasb]

You pay corporate tax on profits. You're not going to have any recognizable, taxable profits if you're bootstrapping a company that will take VC at some point.

[danieltillett]

If you are bootstrapping then it is quite likely that you will make a profit [1]. The reason why is that you need to build up capital in the business to provide a buffer for anything going wrong or to take advantage of new opportunities. Trying to run a bootstrapped company on the knife edge of break even is not easy.

1. This is assuming that you have not been lent the capital required to the company.

[swampthing]

Exactly, and salaries are generally deductible as a business expense from the company's income. So you're not getting double-taxed there.

[foreign-inc]

I am certain that you pay taxes on revenue, not on profit.

[swampthing]

The company pays taxes on its income, but the salaries are generally deductible from the income that the company is taxed on (as are a whole bunch of other expenses).

[gamblor956]

Businesses pay tax on profit, not revenue.