I have started my own company and I do agree that there are some issues that could be addressed

> Keeping $60K out of every $100K extra salary I make is plenty of motivation to work harder That's good that it motivates you. It doesn't motivate me any more. I'm not interested in "investing" more time for the reasons I have said. > the taxes paid aren't burned, they mostly go to things I care about. I'm pleased for you. I'd like to put more money towards things I care about. > The income tax rate isn't all that relevant to the costs and benefits of starting a company I am just less positive than you: it feels like win you lose, lose you lose bigger. I'm just pointing out that our government talks about supporting businesses but I've seen the waste from the repetitive attempts to monetise our scientific academics. > The rewards for founding a successful company mostly aren't subject to income tax Huh? Dividends are income. Or are you talking about the non-monetary rewards of owning a …

> For example, it would be fairer if the years I worked for no income created tax-deductible losses against future income. Hard to avoid cheaters. A policy could be that the government could pay for 2 years of current salary and you only get one chance per person -- however I can't imagine how the government could get that into the budget. The policy I implied is be to reward winners with a tax break to offset their risk. Difficult to sell to any voters that don't understand risk/reward or voters that believe business owners are greedy worthless bâtards. Ha: if the business fails you lose money (the wages you didn't receive), and if the business wins you are taxed: "Privatise the losses, socialise the gains" ;)