2021年经济学人 美国最低税政策

Finance and economics

金融版块

Tax in America

美国的税收

A tale of two profits

两种利润的故事

A minimum tax on companies seems alluring¹, but is likely to disappoint

对公司征收最低税似乎很诱人，但实施起来可能令人失望

ON THE FACE of things, it seems both absurd and unfair that large American companies regularly whittle² down their tax bills, taking advantage of every loophole on offer.

从表面上看，美国大公司经常利用任何一个漏洞削减税单，似乎既荒谬又不公平。

One study found that at least 55 big companies incurred³ no federal taxes at all on their profits in 2020.

一项研究发现，2020年，至少有55家大公司获得的利润是完全没有缴纳联邦税的。

A proposal being discussed as The Economist⁴ went to press, and as the Democratic Party scrambled⁵ to fund its social-spending package, seems to offer a popular solution: a minimum tax on corporate⁶ earnings⁷ as reported to shareholders⁸, rather than as massaged⁹ down when reported to tax collectors.

在《经济学人》付印时，民主党正忙于为其社会支出计划筹划资金，一项正在讨论中的提案似乎提供了一个受欢迎的解决方案：对向股东报告的公司收益征收最低税率，而不是向税务人员报告时被篡改的数据征收最低税率。

The structure of the minimum tax looks simple enough.

最低税率的结构看起来也很简单。

Companies that report more than $1bn in profits to shareholders would pay a tax of at least 15% on those profits.

向股东报告利润超过10亿美元的公司将为这些利润支付至少15%的税。

The levy¹⁰ would be explicitly¹¹ aimed at firms such as Amazon, which had an effective federal income-tax rate of just 4.3% from 2018 to 2020, far below the statutory rate of 21%, according to the Institute on Taxation¹² and Economic Policy, a left-leaning think-tank.

根据左倾智库税收与经济政策研究所的数据，这项税收将明确针对亚马逊等公司，从2018年到2020年，亚马逊的有效联邦所得税税率仅为4.3%，远低于21%的法定税率。

All told, the new tax would apply to some 200 big companies.

总而言之，新税将适用于大约200家大公司。

Politically, the minimum corporate tax has much going for it.

在政治上讲，最低公司税有很多好处。

Angus King, an independent senator who is an architect of the proposal, believes it could raise $400bn over ten years.

该提案的设计者之一、独立参议员安格斯·金认为，该提案可以在十年内筹集4000亿美元。

That would help fund the bill that is the cornerstone of President Joe Biden’s “Build Back Better” agenda, featuring about $2trn in spending over the next decade (equivalent to less than 1% of projected GDP during that time).

这将有助于为这项法案提供资金，该法案是美国总统乔·拜登“重建更好”议程的基石，计划在未来十年支出约2万亿美元(不到同期预计GDP的1%)。

The corporate minimum is also less controversial than another new levy the Democrats¹³ were rowing over, a tax on unrealised capital gains that would target 700 billionaires.

与民主党正在讨论的另一项新税种相比，企业最低税率的争议性也较小，这项税种针对的是700名亿万富翁的未实现资本利得税。

Democrats had hoped at first to rely on a general increase in the corporate-tax rate to raise revenues.

民主党人一开始希望依靠普遍提高企业税率来增加收入。

But Kyrsten Sinema, a Democratic senator from Arizona whose support is needed for the bill to pass, opposed the wider increase and has instead backed the minimum tax as “commonsense”.

但来自亚利桑那州民主党参议员基尔斯滕·西内马反对更大范围的增税，转而支持最低税率，称其为“常识”，他的支持对该法案的通过很重要。

The idea also has the approval of Joe Manchin, a Democratic senator from West Virginia, whose vote could prove decisive.

这一想法也得到了西弗吉尼亚州民主党参议员乔·曼钦的同意，他的投票可能是决定性的。

The economic rationale is, however, more dubious¹⁴.

然而，经济理由则更令人怀疑。

Despite its apparently¹⁵ simple structure, it would introduce more complexity¹⁶ into an already bloated tax code.

尽管它的结构看起来很简单，但它会给本已臃肿的税法更加复杂。

Companies would face two parallel systems, calculating their liabilities first under regular tax rules and then under the minimum-tax regime.

公司将面临两个平行的体系，首先根据常规税收规则计算负债，然后再根据最低税收制度计算负债。

An earlier version of a minimum corporate tax, repealed¹⁷ under President Donald Trump¹⁸ in 2017, was so onerous¹⁹ that in some years compliance²⁰ costs outstripped²¹ tax collections.

唐纳德·特朗普总统于2017年废除的早期版本的最低公司税非常繁重，以至于在某些年份，合规成本超过了税收。

The gap between taxable income and book income as reported to shareholders exists for a reason.

应纳税收入和向股东报告的账面收入之间存在差距是有原因的。

When, say, a company builds a factory, financial rules require it to spread the cost over many years based on depreciation²², letting investors²³ know the value of its assets.

比方说，当一家公司建造工厂时，财务规则要求它根据折旧将成本分摊到多年，让投资者知道其资产的价值。

Tax rules, however, let firms report costs when incurred.

然而，税收规则允许公司在发生成本时报告成本。

That lowers tax bills when investments are made and encourages more spending.

这在投资时降低了税收，并鼓励了更多的支出。

Calculating minimum taxes based on book, rather than taxable, income would lead to two perverse²⁴ outcomes.

根据账面收入（而不是应税收入）计算最低税额将导致两种反常的结果。

First, powers over tax would, in effect, be granted to the Financial Accounting²⁵ Standards Board, an unelected body that governs how companies report income.

首先，税收方面的权力实际上将被授予财务会计准则委员会，这是一个未经选举产生的机构，负责管理公司如何报告收入。

Changes in its standards would lead to changes in taxation.

其标准的变化将导致税收的变化。

Second, companies would have less scope for deducting²⁶ investment expenses, and hence might pare back capital spending.

其次，公司扣除投资费用的空间会变小，因此可能会削减资本支出。

Mr Biden, though, does not want that to happen, so the proposal maintains several deductions²⁷, including for spending on clean energy and on research and development—one of the provisions that may have allowed Amazon to lower its taxes.

然而，拜登并不希望这种情况发生，因此该提案保留了几项减免条件，包括清洁能源和研发方面的支出——这可能是允许亚马逊降低税收的条款之一。

Companies, for their part, will adapt.

就公司而言，他们将会适应。

By turning more to debt instead of equity²⁸ markets for financing, for instance, they could increase their interest expenses, which would eat into both their book and taxable incomes.

例如，更多地转向债券市场而不是股票市场融资，可能会增加利息支出，这将侵蚀它们的账面收入和应税收入。

The upshot is that the minimum corporate tax may end up raising far less revenue than its proponents²⁹ believe, while also skewing investment incentives—and making a messy tax code even more complicated.

其结果是，最低公司税最终可能比其支持者认为的要少得多，同时也扭曲了投资动机——使混乱的税法变得更加复杂。

1 alluring   

adj.吸引人的，迷人的

参考例句：

• The life in a big city is alluring for the young people. 大都市的生活对年轻人颇具诱惑力。
• Lisette's large red mouth broke into a most alluring smile. 莉莎特的鲜红的大嘴露出了一副极为诱人的微笑。

2 whittle   

v.削（木头），削减；n.屠刀

参考例句：

• They are trying to whittle down our salaries.他们正着手削减我们的薪水。
• He began to whittle away all powers of the government that he did not control.他开始削弱他所未能控制的一切政府权力。

3 incurred   

[医]招致的，遭受的； incur的过去式

参考例句：

• She had incurred the wrath of her father by marrying without his consent 她未经父亲同意就结婚，使父亲震怒。
• We will reimburse any expenses incurred. 我们将付还所有相关费用。

4 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

5 scrambled   

v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• Each scrambled for the football at the football ground. 足球场上你争我夺。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He scrambled awkwardly to his feet. 他笨拙地爬起身来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

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 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

8 shareholders   

n.股东( shareholder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The meeting was attended by 90% of shareholders. 90%的股东出席了会议。
• the company's fiduciary duty to its shareholders 公司对股东负有的受托责任

9 massaged   

按摩，推拿( massage的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He massaged her back with scented oil. 他用芳香油按摩她的背部。
• The script is massaged into final form. 这篇稿子经过修改已定稿。

10 levy   

n.征收税或其他款项，征收额

参考例句：

• They levy a tax on him.他们向他征税。
• A direct food levy was imposed by the local government.地方政府征收了食品税。

11 explicitly   

ad.明确地，显然地

参考例句：

• The plan does not explicitly endorse the private ownership of land. 该计划没有明确地支持土地私有制。
• SARA amended section 113 to provide explicitly for a right to contribution. 《最高基金修正与再授权法案》修正了第123条，清楚地规定了分配权。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

12 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。

13 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 dubious   

adj.怀疑的，无把握的；有问题的，靠不住的

参考例句：

• What he said yesterday was dubious.他昨天说的话很含糊。
• He uses some dubious shifts to get money.他用一些可疑的手段去赚钱。

15 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

16 complexity   

n.复杂(性)，复杂的事物

参考例句：

• Only now did he understand the full complexity of the problem.直到现在他才明白这一问题的全部复杂性。
• The complexity of the road map puzzled me.错综复杂的公路图把我搞糊涂了。

17 repealed   

撤销，废除( repeal的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The Labour Party repealed the Act. 工党废除了那项法令。
• The legislature repealed the unpopular Rent Act. 立法机关废除了不得人心的租借法案。

18 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

19 onerous   

adj.繁重的

参考例句：

• My household duties were not particularly onerous.我的家务活并不繁重。
• This obligation sometimes proves onerous.这一义务有时被证明是艰巨的。

20 compliance   

n.顺从；服从；附和；屈从

参考例句：

• I was surprised by his compliance with these terms.我对他竟然依从了这些条件而感到吃惊。
• She gave up the idea in compliance with his desire.她顺从他的愿望而放弃自己的主意。

21 outstripped   

v.做得比…更好，（在赛跑等中）超过( outstrip的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• That manufacturer outstripped all his competitors in sales last year. 那个制造商家去年的销售量超过了所有竞争对手。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The imagination of her mother and herself had outstripped the truth. 母亲和她自己的想象力远远超过了事实。 来自辞典例句

22 depreciation   

n.价值低落，贬值，蔑视，贬低

参考例句：

• She can't bear the depreciation of the enemy.她受不了敌人的蹂躏。
• They wrote off 500 for depreciation of machinery.他们注销了500镑作为机器折旧费。

23 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

24 perverse   

adj.刚愎的；坚持错误的，行为反常的

参考例句：

• It would be perverse to stop this healthy trend.阻止这种健康发展的趋势是没有道理的。
• She gets a perverse satisfaction from making other people embarrassed.她有一种不正常的心态，以使别人难堪来取乐。

25 accounting   

n.会计，会计学，借贷对照表

参考例句：

• A job fell vacant in the accounting department.财会部出现了一个空缺。
• There's an accounting error in this entry.这笔账目里有差错。

26 deducting   

v.扣除，减去( deduct的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Deducting drop size and velocity from circular blood stains. 如何从循环的血液中降低血滴的大小和速度。 来自电影对白
• Ordinary shareholders receive dividend from profit after deducting the preference shares dividend. 普通股股东可获派剩馀的盈利为股息。 来自互联网

27 deductions   

扣除( deduction的名词复数 )； 结论； 扣除的量； 推演

参考例句：

• Many of the older officers trusted agents sightings more than cryptanalysts'deductions. 许多年纪比较大的军官往往相信特务的发现，而不怎么相信密码分析员的推断。
• You know how you rush at things,jump to conclusions without proper deductions. 你知道你处理问题是多么仓促，毫无合适的演绎就仓促下结论。

28 equity   

n.公正，公平，（无固定利息的）股票

参考例句：

• They shared the work of the house with equity.他们公平地分担家务。
• To capture his equity,Murphy must either sell or refinance.要获得资产净值，墨菲必须出售或者重新融资。

29 proponents   

n.（某事业、理论等的）支持者，拥护者( proponent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Reviewing courts were among the most active proponents of hybrid rulemaking procedures. 复审法院是最积极的混合型规则制定程序的建议者。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• Proponents of such opinions were arrested as 'traitors. ' 提倡这种主张的人马上作为“卖国贼”逮捕起来。 来自辞典例句