[ajross]

Really it doesn't matter where, specifically, you draw funds from. Taxing corporations makes their products more expensive. Taxing individuals reduces their purchasing power in the economy, which is sort of the same thing. Taxing all transactions with a VAT is the cleanest expression of this idea, the government basically ends up being (by definition) a fixed size relative to the economy.

A VAT or sales tax has the advantage of efficiency and ease of implementation. A personal income tax can be made more progressive and socially fair more easily. Most western governments have settled on some mix of these for the bulk of their revenue.

[tonyedgecombe]

I don't disagree, I wasn't arguing about VAT or sales tax, rather corporation tax which international companies seem able to avoid but their smaller competitors end up paying.