Big Business is undertaxed and everyone else is overtaxed.
Businesses do not pay taxes. This is nothing more than a cost that is passed along to their customers. In the end it is us who pay those taxes. It is always the consumer in the end. When business taxes become punitive then business finds another lower cost jurisdiction in which to operate. While some will criticize the big bad business man, others might say that it is the only way for them to be able to compete and survive in their segment.
Ask yourself why Quebec, the highest taxed jurisdiction in North America, no longer produces automobiles. (They don't do so well with airplanes either, unless they receive ongoing government subsidies, paid in the end by the lowly taxpayer). They used to have a GM plant, which is now closed. The auto industry is booming in places like Indiana, Kentucky and South Carolina. We no longer produce diesel locomotives in London, ON, as it was considerably more cost efficient to manufacture in Indiana.
All businesses have revenue goals that involve meeting a prescribed profit margin or Return on Equity / Return on Investment. When a cost component increases they need to either raise the prices or reduce their costs. Therefore, a tax increase will eventually result in a price increase that is paid by the consumer. Alternately, if they try to increase efficiencies it often results in lay offs (see the OP). Just think of the lucky worker who loses his/her job. The worker won't have to pay any tax when he has no income.
Like it or not, taxes are job killers...
