I think this sums it up quite nicely. The intent, which is encouraged by all branches and is culturally engrained (I will retrieve citations if requested), is "reduce your taxes as low as possible".

With the right advisors, corporations can do this very effectively. This should not be a surprise to anyone. They will pay less, much less. After all, that's what you encouraged them to do.

If your aim is to collect more taxes, then why encourage those being taxed to seek to reduce their tax liability as low as possible?

Forgive me if I am missing the obvious. But this to me has never made sense.