I freaking hate tax. Especially those on the left yelling to tax the "rich" (very few are actually rich nowadays). This is the end result. Innocent companies go out of business (and then there is nothing to tax).
Taxation is theft by definition, but getting rid of it altogether is a completely unrealistic endeavor. All we can hope for is reducing tax rates and educating people about "taxing the rich" (label that is usually used to advocate raising taxes on capital gains).
No, it's by definition not theft. Theft is the unlawful taking of property without consent of the owner; taxation is by definition done by legal authority, and, ipso facto, is not theft.
Now, if you dismiss any moral status of legal authority (not merely legal authority which lacks some proper accountability, but all legal authority irrespective of accountability and structure), then, sure taxation is the moral equivalent of theft without being theft. And if you take the more moderate view that some legal authority is morally relevant, but that that depends on structure and accountability to the governed, then taxation by an improper authority is morally equivalent to theft.
