以家庭为单位征收个人所得税的制度设计问题--基于三种所得税征收模式的讨论

1993年确立的我国现行个人所得税征收模式,随着经济形势的发展变化,虽然做过数次局部调整,从整体来看与经济发展的匹配度仍然不高。学界对我国个人所得税制度的改革主要持两种观点,一种认为应该坚持并完善现行成熟的分类所得税制,通过征管手段的提高,强化源泉课税,减少税收流失。另一种观点则主张放弃现行的分类所得税制,选择实行综合所得税制。本文主要对以家庭为单位征收个人所得税,是以分类所得税制、综合所得税制,还是混合所得税制为基础更适应现实国情的问题展开分析,在此基础上提出了混合所得税制之下实行以家庭为单位征收个人所得税的制度假设。     

ECONOMIC GROWTH AND THE STRUCTURE OF TAXES IN SOUTH AFRICA: 1960–2002*

One tenet of taxation is its distorting effect on economic behaviour. Despite the economic inefficiencies resulting from taxation, it is widely believed that taxes impact minimally on the economy's growth rate. Evidence in developing countries generally supports this view. In this paper, we present evidence that tax distortions in South Africa may be much more severe. Using tax and economic data from 1960 to 2002 and a two‐stage modelling technique to control for unobservable business cycle variables, we examine the relationship between total taxation, the mix of taxation and economic growth. We find that decreased tax burdens are strongly associated with increased economic growth potential; in addition, contrary to most theoretical research, decreased indirect taxation relative to direct taxation is strongly correlated with increased economic growth potential.     

Inequality and the Urban-rural Divide in China： Effects of Regressive Taxation

Using three comparable national representative household surveys for China in 1988, 1995 and 2002, the present paper reveals the regressivity and urban bias of China＇s direct tax and welfare system in this period It shows that a regressive taxation system and skewed allocation of subsidies increases the urban-rural income gap and enhances overall inequality. Modeling these relationships indicates that the relatively poorer rural population has a net tax liability, whereas those in the richer urban areas receive net subsidies. This pattern is common in China, although the extent of the bias varies. This skewed system of tax and welfare payments is a major cause of the persisting urban-rural income gap and contributes to the overall income inequality in China. The abolishment of the agriculture tax in 2006 has had a positive impact on rural people ＇s livelihoods.     

Income tax reform for a globalized world: The case for a dual income tax

Countries that are industrialized, or becoming so, must adopt tax systems that are capable of raising considerable amounts of revenue efficiently, equitably and with administrative simplicity, while at the same time coping with the competitive features of a globalized world economy. A component of that tax system will be direct taxation of households alongside general sales and payroll taxation. This paper addresses the role that capital income taxes should play in the income tax system. Arguments for the preferential treatment of capital income are summarized, and a case is made for adopting a schedular approach in which capital and labor income are taxed according to separate rate structures. The particular case of the dual income tax system used in the Nordic countries is advocated whereby capital income is taxed at a low, flat rate and non-capital income is taxed progressively. It is argued that this system best combines the objectives of a good tax system in an internationally competitive environment.     

建立实物收入税基 完善个人收入所得税制度

实物收入是人们收入的重要组成部分之一.文章分析了实物收入免税的不利因素.指出实物收入征税,应符合税收的收入原则、公平原则、效率原则、社会福利原则、调节经济的原则、中性原则和最适原则.     

The Effect of Tax Preparation Expenses for Employees: Evidence from Germany

Using a panel of German income tax accounting data from taxpayers with no business income (employees), we find a negative relationship between tax preparation expenses and tax liabilities. However, preparation expenses are shown to exceed estimated tax savings. Specifically, one additional Euro spent on preparation yields an estimated tax savings of 72 cents in an OLS regression and 24 cents in a fixed effects regression. In addition, we observe substantial heterogeneity in tax savings among income groups, but even if we account for long‐term tax savings, tax liability reductions exceed tax preparation expenses only for the highest income quintile. In all other income quintiles, average preparation expenses exceed the estimated tax and time savings. Based on these results, we also examine whether other specific benefits affect an individual's decision to purchase tax preparation services, and the results indicate the importance of the benefits of coping with complexity and reduced uncertainty. Overall, our findings illustrate that the current tax compliance process violates at least two of Adam Smith's principles of taxation, taxes are neither certain nor fair.     

THE INCOME DISTRIBUTION IN JAPAN

In this paper the author has atempted to clarify the characteristic of the chanes in he income distribution in post-war Japan, in particular from he viewpoint of income equalization. The problem of equaliation in income distribution is the most important one for every welfare state, and in the case of Japan, there is a willingnes to create a welfare state, whether the trend of income distribution trends towards equalizations or not is attracting increasing atention among he authorities and among persons having an interest in Japanee affaris. The results of the author's analyses show an equalization trend up to 1949; an unequalization trend after 950; and again an equalization trend from around 1965.     

Intergenerational income persistence and transmission mechanism: Evidence from urban China

In this paper I investigate the intergenerational income association and its transmission channels amid China's economic transition period using urban data from the Chinese Household Income Projects in 1995 and 2002. The estimated intergenerational income elasticity is 0.43 and 0.51 for cohorts educated prior to and after the market reform respectively, and reaches 0.71 among households with above average income in the post-reform era. Besides the conventional channel of education, this paper estimates the contribution from social capital and ownership of work unit across cohorts and income groups. There is weak evidence that prior to market reform, ownership of work unit contributes most to the intergenerational income persistence for households with below average income, while social capital leads the three contributors in households with above average income. However, in the post-reform era, parents with below average income invest statistically significantly in children's education which contributes most to the intergenerational income persistence. The leading contributor in families with above average income shifts to social capital. Possible explanations for such a shift lie in the ability and incentive of parents from different income categories to invest in their children. The results are tested through a series of robustness checks, and provide empirical support for promoting policies on the equality of opportunity.     

Income Strategies Among Rural Households in Mexico: The Role of Off-farm Activities

Off-farm activities generate on average more than half of farm households' incomes in the Mexican ejido sector. Participation in these activities helps reduce poverty and contributes to greater equality in the distribution of income. This paper analyzes the determinants of access to off-farm sources of income across households. We find that education plays a major role in accessing better remunerated nonagricultural employment. Adults of indigenous ethnic origin suffer from an educational lag and have less access to off-farm nonagricultural employment than non-indigenous adults at identical educational levels. The regional availability of off-farm employment strongly affects participation. In addition, women are differentially limited by distance to urban centers in their ability to gain off-farm employment.     

Illuminations and distortions: Gregory King's Scheme calculated for the year 1688 and the social structure of later Stuart England1

This critique of King's well‐known Scheme of the social order in 1688 examines his purposes, the Scheme's evolutionary process, and the taxation data (hearth, poll, window, and marriage duty) that King used to construct it, before contrasting his conclusions with recent research. His social hierarchy emerges as a rather crude and backward‐looking stereotype based on too many intelligent guesses, with his treatment of the poorer families being least satisfactory. Overall, King's population totals appear sound, his national income estimate low, and various mean household sizes and family and children's totals unreliable.     

Japan's public pension system: What's wrong with it and how to fix it

In this paper, I briefly discuss the current structure of Japan's public pension system, the history of that system, and some of the problems with the current system and then make a number of recommendations for reforming the system. I argue that Japan's current public pension system has an adverse impact on the inter- and intragenerational allocation of resources and that it discourages private saving as well as the labor supply of the aged and of women but that these distortions can be corrected by reforming the system in appropriate ways. In particular, I recommend switching immediately to a system that is actuarially fair to all cohorts and to all groups within each cohort, that does not contain perverse incentives for labor supply and saving decisions, and that ensures retirees an uninterrupted flow of income.     

THE FOUNDATION OF THE MEXICAN WELFARE STATE AND SOCIAL SECURITY REFORM IN THE 1990s

Before 1982 Mexico's welfare state regime was a limited conservative one that put priority on the social security of organized labor. But following the country's debt crisis in 1982, this regime changed to a hybrid liberal model. The Ernest Zedillo government (1995–2000) in particular pushed ahead with liberal reform of the social security system. This paper examines the characteristics and the policy making of the social security reforms in the 1990s. The results suggest that underlying these reforms was the restructuring of the economy and the need to cope with the cost of this restructuring. The paper also points out that one of the main factors making possible the rapid execution of the reforms were the weakened political clout of the officialist labor unions due to their steady breakdown during the 1990s and the increase in the monopolistic power of the state vis‐à‐vis the position of labor during the negotiations on social security reforms.     

Tax rate,government revenue and economic performance: A perspective of Laffer curve

The Laffer curve illustrates a theoretical relationship between rates of taxation and the resulting levels of government revenue. This paper explores the relationship between tax rate (direct tax on labor income), government revenue and economic performance in a perspective of the Laffer curve by applying Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model. The results show that the top of China's Laffer curve is about 40%. The government should consider changes in the entire taxation system and not just changes in direct taxes while increasing direct tax rate. If China wants to maximize tax revenues, the direct tax rate should be 35%. We conduct a variety of sensitivity analyses and conclude that the government tax peak is always 5–10% earlier than the apex of the Laffer curve. So, if a country has reached the top of the Laffer curve, this paper strongly recommends that tax cuts will have positive implications for the economy and government revenue.     

Who Benefits from Inconsistent Multinational Tax Transfer‐Pricing Rules?*

This paper uses a strategic tax compliance model to examine taxpayer reporting and tax authority audit strategies in an international setting with two tax authorities. The setting features both information asymmetry between the taxpayer and the tax authorities and inconsistent tax transfer‐pricing rules. The latter creates the possibility of each country trying to tax the same income. We study the effect of the probability of transfer‐price rule inconsistency on the strategies and payoffs of the taxpayer and the tax authorities. We find that an increase in the probability of transfer‐price rule inconsistency induces more aggressive auditing by governments. It therefore deters taxpayers from shifting income to the country with the lower tax rate in situations in which the transfer‐pricing rules are consistent, and can either increase or decrease the income reported to the low‐tax‐rate country in cases in which the transfer‐pricing rules are inconsistent. We find that an increase in transfer‐price rule inconsistency could either increase or decrease the taxpayer's expected tax liability and could either increase or decrease the deadweight loss from auditing. Our results call into question the conventional wisdom that the prospect of double taxation due to transfer‐price rule inconsistency increases a firm's expected tax liability and governments' expected audit costs.     

REGIONAL INCOME INEQUALITY IN INDONESIA AND THE INITIAL IMPACT OF THE ECONOMIC CRISIS

This paper estimates regional income inequality from 1993 to 1998, using a Theil index based upon district-level GDP and population data. Between 1993 and 1997, when Indonesia's annual average growth rate exceeded 7%, regional income inequality rose significantly. A two-stage nested inequality decomposition analysis indicates this was due mainly to an increase in within-province inequality, especially in Riau, Jakarta and West and East Java. In 1997, the within-province component represented about 50% of regional income inequality. The crisis caused per capita GDP growth to revert to its 1995 level, but the impact was spread unevenly across provinces and districts. In 1998 regional income inequality declined to its 1993-94 level. In contrast to 1993-97, three-quarters of the 1998 decline was due to a change in between-province inequality, with the Java-Bali region playing a prominent role. The crisis appears particularly to have afflicted urban Java and urban Sumatra.     

Labor Market Reform, Income Inequality and Economic Growth in China

The year 1996 was a turning point both in terms of Chinese labor market reform aria m China＇s economic growth pattern. Before 1996, labor market reform was mainly implemented through adjustment of people＇s occupation and income structure. Since 1996, employment restructuring has led to differentiation in terms of employment status. Labor market reform in the former stage resulted in slow growth in wages, whereas reform in the latter stage enhanced economic efficiency. Both stages have enabled the Chinese economy to apply its comparative advantage of low labor cost. Labor market reform has also increased income disparity and, therefore, new challenges are posed in sustaining economic growth. China needs to adjust its development strategies and introduce labor market reform that can improve income equality, so as to achieve sustainable economic development.     

中国企业海外并购的税收风险与控制

随着中国经济的持续发展,中国企业在海外并购中扮演着越来越重要的地位。但是,海外并购存在着许多的风险。其中,税收风险是其中一个不容小觑的方面。对海外并购的税收成本进行剖析,企业主要面临着所得税缴纳的税收成本。而在海外并购中,所得税的缴纳主要存在跨国重组以及国际双重征税的两个重要问题。分别是跨境重组和国际双重征税问题。针对这两个问题,企业在税法风险控制方面要注意利用重组优惠和避免双重征税。在维护我国税收利益的同时,降低税收成本。     

Race and wealth

One of the most heated scholarly controversies in the area of racial equality and social justice in the 1980s has been the dispute over the nature, cause, and meaning of economic changes occurring within the black community. Although this debate has important public policy consequences, most of the research on which the debate is based is concerned with income. We argue that a broader interpretation of life chances should include an examination of wealth as well as income. Using the 1984 Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), we examine black and white patterns of wealth inequality. Our analysis uncovers a depth of inequality beyond that which is found when income alone is considered. Furthermore, we find that both race and class are important in determining patterns of racial inequalities in wealth.     

效率公平并重兼顾促进和谐社会构建

经济活动的和谐是整个社会和谐的基础,经济活动和谐的基本点在于正确处理效率与公平的关系.实现效率与公平的统一,是我国构建社会主义和谐社会的应有之义.党的十六届五中全会也特别指出要"合理调节收入分配"、"注重社会公平".在当前因不公正而造成的社会贫富差距悬殊等问题影响社会和谐的新情况下,对效率和公平的关系上,应与时俱进地作出相应的调整,实行"效率公平,并重兼顾",可采取:继续紧抓改革和发展;进一步规范收入分配秩序;加快中西部中心城市建设;努力增加农民收入;发挥政府在再分配上的有效功能;加快建立健全完善的社会保障制度等,以促进和谐社会的构建.