2020年经济学人 公司税——数位落差(1)

When G20 finance ministers meet on July 18th and 19th, avoiding a new trade war will be high on the agenda.

当G20财政部长于7月18日和19日会面时，避免一场新的贸易战争将成为议程上的重要议题。

Cash-strapped governments around the world are planning to whack¹ taxes on online services.

手头拮据的世界各国政府正计划对在线服务征税。

But America regards these as a grab for its companies' profits, and is considering retaliation² against ten digital-tax proposals.

但美国认为这是对其公司利润的抢夺，并考虑对十项数字税提案进行报复。

On July 10th it said it would respond to France's tax by hitting French handbags, lipstick³ and soap with tariffs⁴ of 25%.

7月10日，其表示将对法国征税做出回应，向法国手袋、口红以及香皂征收25%的关税。

Unless a truce⁵ is struck, the tariffs will go into effect in January.

除非达成休战协议，否则这些关税将在明年一月份生效。

The root cause of the dispute is a flaw in the international tax system. In order to avoid taxing businesses twice,

这场纷争的根源是国际税收体系中的一个缺陷。为了避免对企业二次征税，

governments typically apply the corporate⁶ tax to firms that are legally domiciled on their shores or have a local physical base,

政府通常向在本国境内合法注册或在当地有实体基础的公司征收公司税，

and link the amount due to the location of their assets and production.

并根据他们资产的所在地以及生产勾定税额。

But now many companies provide online services and can shift intellectual property to low-tax regimes with the click of a button.

但现在很多公司都提供在线服务，并且点击一下按钮就可以将知识产权转移至低税收制度的国家。

A system intended to stop profits being taxed too much allows them to be taxed too little.

一个意在阻止对利润过度征税的体系，却让他们被征收过少的税。

In 2017 40% of profits made by multinational⁷ firms outside their home country were shifted to tax havens⁸,

丹麦税务部的Thomas Torslov，以及加州大学伯克利分校的Ludvig Wier和Gabriel Zucman认为，

reckon Thomas Torslov, now at the Danish Ministry⁹ of Taxation¹⁰, and Ludvig Wier and Gabriel Zucman of the University of California, Berkeley.

在2017年，投资国以外的跨国公司所得利润的40%被转移至了避税地。

That meant more than $200bn in forgone¹¹ tax revenue, equivalent to 10% of global corporate-tax receipts.

这意味着放弃了超过2000亿美元的税收收入，相当于全球企业税收收入的10%。

This is a relatively¹² small amount: by comparison, governments worldwide have unleashed¹³ stimulus¹⁴ of $5.4trn in response to covid-19.

这是一个相对较小的数目：相比之下，为应对covid-19，世界各国政府已经放出了5.4万亿美元的刺激资金。

But it is symbolically¹⁵ important and rightly irks taxpayers¹⁶, who must fill the hole.

但这有重要的象征意义，也理所当然地惹恼了纳税人，因为他们必须填补这个漏洞。

For several years now, the OECD, a club of rich countries, has convened¹⁷ governments in the hope of plugging the tax leaks.

几年来，富国俱乐部——经济合作与发展组织（OECD）召集各国政府，希望堵住税收漏洞。

The idea is that the G20 meeting lays the groundwork so that the OECD's summit, planned for October, yields results.

他们想先在G20会议上奠定基础，以便在10月举行的OECD峰会上得到结果。

1 whack   

v.敲击，重打，瓜分；n.重击，重打，尝试，一份

参考例句：

• After years of dieting,Carol's metabolism was completely out of whack.经过数年的节食，卡罗尔的新陈代谢完全紊乱了。
• He gave me a whack on the back to wake me up.他为把我弄醒，在我背上猛拍一下。

2 retaliation   

n.报复，反击

参考例句：

• retaliation against UN workers 对联合国工作人员的报复
• He never said a single word in retaliation. 他从未说过一句反击的话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 lipstick   

n.口红，唇膏

参考例句：

• Taking out her lipstick,she began to paint her lips.她拿出口红，开始往嘴唇上抹。
• Lipstick and hair conditioner are cosmetics.口红和护发素都是化妆品。

4 tariffs   

关税制度； 关税( tariff的名词复数 )； 关税表； （旅馆或饭店等的）收费表； 量刑标准

参考例句：

• British industry was sheltered from foreign competition by protective tariffs. 保护性关税使英国工业免受国际竞争影响。
• The new tariffs have put a stranglehold on trade. 新的关税制对开展贸易极为不利。

5 truce   

n.休战，(争执，烦恼等的)缓和；v.以停战结束

参考例句：

• The hot weather gave the old man a truce from rheumatism.热天使这位老人暂时免受风湿病之苦。
• She had thought of flying out to breathe the fresh air in an interval of truce.她想跑出去呼吸一下休战期间的新鲜空气。

6 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

7 multinational   

adj.多国的，多种国籍的；n.多国籍公司，跨国公司

参考例句：

• The firm was taken over by a multinational consulting firm.这家公司被一个跨国咨询公司收购。
• He analyzed the relationship between multinational corporations and under-developed countries.他分析了跨国公司和不发达国家之间的关系。

8 havens   

n.港口，安全地方( haven的名词复数 )v.港口，安全地方( haven的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Your twenty havens would back out at the last minute anyhow. 你那二十个避难所到了最后一分钟也要不认帐。 来自辞典例句
• Using offshore havens to avoid taxes and investor protections. 使用海面的港口避免税和投资者保护。 来自互联网

9 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

10 taxation   

n.征税，税收，税金

参考例句：

• He made a number of simplifications in the taxation system.他在税制上作了一些简化。
• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。

11 forgone   

v.没有也行，放弃( forgo的过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Tax expenditures are the revenues forgone due to preferential tax treatment. 税收支出是由于税收优惠待遇而放弃的收入。 来自互联网
• The alternative forgone is called the opportunity cost. 这种选择性的放弃就叫做机会成本。 来自互联网

12 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

13 unleashed   

v.把（感情、力量等）释放出来，发泄( unleash的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The government's proposals unleashed a storm of protest in the press. 政府的提案引发了新闻界的抗议浪潮。
• The full force of his rage was unleashed against me. 他把所有的怒气都发泄在我身上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 stimulus   

n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物

参考例句：

• Regard each failure as a stimulus to further efforts.把每次失利看成对进一步努力的激励。
• Light is a stimulus to growth in plants.光是促进植物生长的一个因素。

15 symbolically   

ad.象征地，象征性地

参考例句：

• By wearing the ring on the third finger of the left hand, a married couple symbolically declares their eternal love for each other. 将婚戒戴在左手的第三只手指上，意味着夫妻双方象征性地宣告他们的爱情天长地久，他们定能白头偕老。
• Symbolically, he coughed to clear his throat. 周经理象征地咳一声无谓的嗽，清清嗓子。

16 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

17 convened   

召开( convene的过去式 )； 召集； （为正式会议而）聚集； 集合

参考例句：

• The chairman convened the committee to put the issue to a vote. 主席召集委员们开会对这个问题进行表决。
• The governor convened his troops to put down the revolt. 总督召集他的部队去镇压叛乱。