Not exactly. If we were talking about a sales tax then yes. That is just a cost on a transaction, and the degree to which each party (buyer and seller) ends up baring the cost depends on the ratio of the elasticity of supply and the elasticity of demand, independent on who the tax is levied against. This is also true for tariffs. But an income tax on a corporation is different. If they have a positive margin on a transaction, they will still have a positive margin after an income tax. So it doesn't modify behavior at the immediate, nor does it cause them to change prices (the price at which they would no longer sell). They still have every incentive to maximize revenue over expenses and it happens at the exact same price point. It does though change behavior at the capital planning phase, and thus you may pay more when there are fewer actors in a market in the long term. (and thus the fewer actors take a higher margin in then less competitive market, but then keep less of it; this condition existing a few years down the road). I'm all for everybody and even corporations not paying taxes. I'm just a little technically peculiar when it comes to what specific negative effects a specific kind of tax has. At the end of the day a corporate tax takes income out of the hands of individuals (shareholders), and gives it to a government that makes poorer choices. This transfer of physical resources to the government also dries up the pool of physical resources the real market has access to and thus we are all physically poorer for it. But no, corporate income tax is not an expense that is passed on directly to the consumer.