> you never see "since this was my first company, we didn't realize taxes exist"

Taxes are a nitpicky example, but indeed in Germany where everything is full of regulations and red tape that only some bureaucrats understand, there indeed exist founders who argue this way for these convoluted laws:

For example have a look at the popular videos of the following channel (in German): https://www.youtube.com/@Nordwolle/videos

That's different. Last time I checked he's not arguing that he didn't know, but that the regulations are ridiculous and should be changed. Which I think is completely legit. The German economy and everyone who works in it would benefit from this. Moreover, I consider euclidean zoning to be a colossal mistake...

I missed revenue reporting[0] for my one-man studio once. This was exactly what I told the authority.

I got fined anyway.

[0]: Not in the US.

This happens literally all the time.

It's usually never a blatant "I didn't realise taxes exist" but more like "I didn't know I couldn't add haircuts to my company's tax deducts".