Considering, you know, everything, here’s some ideas that have been building in my mind. I want some harsh criticism, even to replicate disingenuous criticism that I would receive from bootlickers. If the ideas hold up, I’ll try to get a movement going. (The slightly right wing spin is intentional. This is about the general idea not nitpicking percentages.)
Two policies to protect businesses and ensure economic stability during the current crisis and impacts of AI:
- Business tax now based on revenue per employee. Instead of being taxed purely on profits, businesses will pay tax only on revenue above a defined amount per employee. For examples we will set the threshold at 100k per employee. For a company with 2 employees, revenue above 200k will be taxed at 100%. A self employed plumber who earns 60k per year will not be taxed at all. For a company that employees 500 people, all revenue above 50mil will be taxed at 100%.
This ensures businesses cannot lay off staff or increase prices to increase profits. Rather, to earn more profits they must employ more people. The increased tax naturally only applies to businesses that aren’t already struggling, and provides much needed tax relief to most. The extra tax is used to offset policy 2:
- Raising the minimum income required to pay tax to minimum wage. So any income minimum and below has no income tax. Essentially moving the tax brackets upward to start at minimum.
This ensures that customers have a huge jump in disposable cash to spend and keep the economy from crashing. Businesses can take advantage of this by reducing salaries (since employees will have more in the pocket after tax and be happy to work for a lower on paper salary) and by hiring more people to increase profits and efficiency.
Please criticise and offer improvements. Also any tips on how to spin it in a more right wing flavour. This is obviously quite left, but if it’s more ‘business profits good’ then I’m more likely to capture that crowd.
For context, I live in NZ.
Real world example (numbers may not be exact):
Amazon in 2024 had 1.5mil employees, made $700b, and paid $26b in tax. Under these policies, $550b would be taxed (Just think of the trains!). The hard part is ascertaining how much should be set aside for business operating expenses.
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I have a fair few critiques, as a leftist. Namely, why do we even care about businesses so much? Yes, AI will take jobs and thats bad. But I dont think guaranteeing tax relief is the way to solve that issue. Perhaps im being too ideological but, if giving companies hand outs ACTUALLY created jobs; the AI industry would be one of the largest job creators in the the usa.
As a lefty, we need collective owenships of the means of production (including AI). Anything less is just slow genocide.
-why do we even care about businesses so much
We don’t, but that doesn’t help get policies enacted that benefit most of us. The point is to start bringing down corps and empowering the 99% by playing the game how it’s been set up.
It’s only a handout to small businesses, the unwritten subtext is that big corps will suddenly have big tax to pay.
Well, its hard to disagree with changes that help the working class. I think its still just a reform but I grant that this reform would be far better than the current tax scheme ie: we pay they play
However, the other gripe would be with the part about starting a movement or group around this idea. What did you mean by that?
This is ridiculous. You can’t weaken corporations using the government when the corporations drive the government. Popular option will not supersede corporate survival.
If you want to build a movement to weaken corporations, build a union.
Stop trying to legislate your way to weaker corps. It’ll take years and by the time anything happens they will outmaneuver the legislation anyway because they’ll see it come and have their political puppets create loopholes.
Right wing dog whistles:
- tax relief for business
- lower taxes
- increased customer base
- higher turnover
- lower wages
- higher efficiency
- market competition
Any more? The left voters need no convincing, it’s the center and right that need to be convinced, hence the spin.
Also notice, I stated revenue not profit, because larger corporations operate ‘at a loss’ to avoid paying taxes while massively expanding. This curbs that behaviour, while allowing smaller businesses the free capital to grow themselves without having to compete with corporations that can just rely on their equity to steamroll over everyone else.
