You have a strange idea of not high and onerous if you think taxes in LA are attracting work rather than repelling it, as the top of this thread explains clearly.
Take 30 seconds to search and you can find stories of folks who got shafted for thousands because they didn't even know such a thing existed and needs to be reported early even if you do. The fact you most get an exemption is another example of big brother showing who's boss for no gain to the city.
How about you stop being a libertarian keyboard jockey and actually try to get involved in running a business or two in Los Angeles, like I am doing? Everything you have posted is bullshit.
My wife happens to be a "creative artist" who does a lot of work in the film industry here. She is also the type of person who did not do basic research into starting a business and did not bother to find out what taxes she was supposed to be paying. I don't know why you think that being an airhead is the city's fault. The fine was not "thousands of dollars," it came out to $80-something for two years of unreported city taxes. It was literally a letter and a couple of phone calls to settle that.
Paid shill from the city government? Sure sounds that way. It's obvious you've never lived in sane tax environment like New Zealand where you file in about thirty minutes a year on their website. That's what you're competing with.
Take 30 seconds to search and you can find stories of folks who got shafted for thousands because they didn't even know such a thing existed and needs to be reported early even if you do. The fact you most get an exemption is another example of big brother showing who's boss for no gain to the city.