Why businesses are taxed so low but individuals/employees so high in EU (35%-65% income tax)?
In effect any corporation tax is a double tax.
There are a whole host of corporate entities which allow for pass-through taxation: LLC, S-Corp, sole proprietorships, and the like. I'd be surprised if European countries didn't have similar mechanisms.
Intermediate entities like LLCs are a relatively recent Americanism that’s unusual in the rest of the world.
And doesn't that create an artificial pressure for money to change hands fewer times (for example, in the production of a consumer good)?
€800 VAT the company charged to clients
€500 VAT the company paid to suppliers
===== -
€300 VAT the company has to pay to authorities
ULTIMATELY, the consumer pays the VAT. The consumer cannot deduct VAT.
Sure, big ticket items people might shop around for a lower tax but will they not buy something based on minimizing the amount they pay to the government?
The MMT argument for taxation is that it's necessary to encourage demand for a currency, thus making it more valuable. But there's no fundamental reason that a government which controls its own currency must collect taxes to pay for various services.
Congress could pay state and local governments directly each year.
If you're willing to throw away some property rights, then state and local governments could theoretically lease land as a means of raising revenue without direct taxation. (this is a terrible idea)
Why is it a terrible idea?
This is what people forget about (especially tech minded people), when they think up new systems of taxation that would be more fair and effective: Any fair and effective tax would destroy the currency, since people and businesses could easily pay their share and then instantly convert their remaining wealth into non-fiat assets, or even safer fiat assets. In order to prop up the value of the fiat currency, the tax system needs to be extremely bureaucratic and reach into every and any kind of economic activity imaginable. That way there is a constant need for businesses to keep that fiat on hand and do their accounting with that fiat.