Editor, With the approaching deadline for filing our income taxes, and with the political clamor to “raise taxes on the rich,” we would should consider the question: Who pays what?
There are some very wealthy members of Congress who jump on the “tax the rich” bandwagon whenever it rolls around. Yet these are the very one who have their wealth secured in such a way they will not be affected. If they really felt all of the rich should pay more taxes, they could simply eliminate their personal deductions, and file the short form. That would boost their taxes considerably.
These too, are the ones who demand that those evil corporations pay higher taxes. Now, I don’t doubt most corporate heads would take their own grandmother’s last dime, and laugh as they headed to the bank, but the fact is: No corporation, no business actually pays taxes.
For this discussion, we are not considering the small business owner who pays personal income tax on the income from that business.
We know any business must include all operating costs in the price of the goods or services they provide. To fail to do so would result in failure of that business. Therefore, all taxes, income, property, etc., must be included as part of their operating costs. As costs, including taxes, go up, prices go up. This is bad for the individual consumer, and for the economy as a whole.
What can we conclude from the above facts? The clear answer is it is quite obvious all business taxes are passed on to the consumer. Therefore, corporate and/or business income taxes are actually a hidden tax paid out of personal income.   
Think about this the next time you hear a politician talking about “taxing the rich, and raising corporate taxes.”

Jerry L. Williams
Hinesville