Recently, Qiushi magazine published an important article "Promoting Prosperity through Prosperity" (hereinafter referred to as "the article"). The article points out that getting rich is the essential requirement of socialism and an important feature of China's modernization. When we say * * * to be rich together, we mean that all the people are rich together, and the people are rich in material and spiritual life, not the wealth of a few people, nor is it uniform egalitarianism.
The article talks about six main points of promoting prosperity with * * *, one of which is to strengthen the regulation of high income. Many specific measures are related to tax reform, involving personal income tax, real estate tax, consumption tax and so on.
A number of financial and taxation experts told the First Financial Reporter that to achieve prosperity, it is necessary to increase the role of taxation in regulating income distribution. In strengthening the regulation of high income, the article points out the new direction of tax reform: the collection and management of capital income of high-income earners in personal income tax will be obviously strengthened; While the real estate tax is being promoted by legislation, it is expected that some cities will take the lead in piloting it in the near future; At the same time, some luxury goods and high consumption behaviors are expected to be included in the scope of taxation; Tax incentives for charities will be strengthened to encourage donations.
Strengthen the collection and management of high-income individual taxes
At present, there is a big gap in the income distribution of Chinese residents.
According to the data of the National Bureau of Statistics, the Gini coefficient, which reflects the income gap of residents, has been fluctuating and declining since it reached its peak (0.49 1) in 2008, and dropped to 0.468 in 2020. However, this value is still at a high level.
To narrow the income gap among residents, it is necessary to increase the income of low-income groups, expand the proportion of middle-income groups, and rationally adjust excessive income.
The article points out that while protecting legitimate income according to law, it is necessary to prevent polarization and eliminate unfair distribution. It is necessary to reasonably adjust excessive income, improve the personal income tax system, and standardize the management of capital income. Actively and steadily promote real estate tax legislation and reform, and do a good job in pilot work. It is necessary to intensify tax adjustment in the field of consumption and study and expand the scope of consumption tax collection. It is necessary to strengthen the standardized management of philanthropy, improve preferential tax policies, and encourage high-income people and enterprises to pay more back to society.
Shi, director of the Finance and Tax Law Research Center of China University of Political Science and Law, told CBN that personal income tax is an important tax to regulate income distribution. At present, among real high-income people, a lot of income comes from capital income such as interest, dividends, bonuses and property transfer, and some people evade taxes by hiding this income or malicious tax planning. Therefore, it is necessary to standardize the management of capital income, that is, strengthen the collection and management, so that the capital tax income of high-income people can be collected, and the excessive income can be reasonably adjusted.
Fan Ziying, a professor at Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, also believes that the future tax reform will further strengthen the collection and management of capital gains.
In fact, the collection and management of high-income people has been continuously strengthened. At the end of September, State Taxation Administration of The People's Republic of China rarely disclosed three high-income tax evasion cases for the first time. One case is that the boss of a pharmaceutical company in Anhui used the "yin-yang contract" to conceal the income from equity transfer, and the other two cases are tax evasion cases of network celebrity anchors.
State Taxation Administration of The People's Republic of China said that in order to maintain the normal economic and tax order, local tax inspection departments have cooperated with public security departments to continuously strengthen tax supervision over high-risk industries and individuals, severely crack down on various tax-related illegal and criminal acts such as falsely issuing VAT invoices and concealing high-income tax returns, continuously purify the tax business environment and promote social fairness and justice.
In March this year, the general offices of the General Office of the Central Committee of the CPC and the State Council issued the Opinions on Further Deepening the Reform of Tax Collection and Management, which clearly stipulated that tax service and supervision for high-income and high-net-worth people should be strengthened according to law. Later, including Beijing and other provinces and cities to deepen the reform plan of tax collection and management, it is required to improve the tax service and supervision level for high-income and high-net-worth personnel in key industries and key fields.
Li, a professor at the National Accounting Institute, told CBN that the capital gains tax is related to the adjustment of high income. However, the regulation of high-income tax is not necessarily from the tax rate, but also from the effective tax rate. When the effective tax rate is raised, the regulation function of tax is more obvious, which not only promotes tax fairness, but more importantly, improves the efficiency of tax regulation and makes it play a practical role, which will promote prosperity with * * and will not inhibit high-income people.
One of the main points of the 20 19 tax reform is to combine the four incomes of wages and labor remuneration into comprehensive income for the first time, and implement a unified progressive tax rate of 3%~45%, which is the first step of a comprehensive tax system. The Ministry of Finance has also publicly stated that the scope of comprehensive income will be further expanded during the 14 th Five-Year Plan period. Whether capital gains are included in the scope of comprehensive income is hotly discussed in academic circles.
Luo Zhiheng, vice president of Guangdong Securities Research Institute, told CBN that the highest marginal tax rate of labor income is 45%, while the tax rate of capital income is 20%. In the future, it may promote the equal treatment of all incomes and include capital income in comprehensive income.
Real estate tax pilot
In addition to individual tax, real estate tax is also an important tax to adjust income distribution. Personal housing is exempted from property tax in China. At present, the main direction of tax reform is to levy real estate tax on personal housing to replace the current property tax and other taxes. The National People's Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) Budget Working Committee is working with the Ministry of Finance to draft a real estate tax law.
The article points out that it is necessary to actively and steadily promote the legislation and reform of real estate tax and do a good job in the pilot work.
"Real estate tax involves all aspects and is sensitive, so it is very cautious. Many successful reforms in China were carried out on the basis of pilot projects, and then problems were found, experiences were summed up and implemented in an all-round way. The same is true of real estate tax reform. While promoting legislation, pilot projects are also carried out, and pilot experience can better promote legislative work. " Stone said to.
In May 1 1, in official website, the Ministry of Finance announced that responsible comrades of the Ministry of Finance, the Budget Working Committee of the National People's Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC), the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and State Taxation Administration of The People's Republic of China held a symposium on the pilot work in real estate tax reform in Beijing that day to listen to the opinions of responsible comrades of some urban people's governments and some experts and scholars on the pilot work in real estate tax reform.
Li said that real estate tax can promote the prosperity of * * to a certain extent, because it is an important property tax, and it can play a supplementary role in adjusting income tax, because the adjustment of wealth distribution is not only the adjustment of wages, salaries and labor remuneration, but also the adjustment of capital gains and property income, so the coordination of property tax and income tax can play a synergistic role.
"But after all, the collection of property tax is closely related to the location of the property, and the economic structure, characteristics and scale are different between different regions. Adopting the pilot method can better combine the reality of China's local economy and play a better regulatory effect. " Li said to him.
Luo Zhiheng believes that the real estate tax levy is the general trend, and the pilot is imminent. It is a very important methodology in the process of China's reform and opening up. Under the background of fully implementing "no speculation in housing" and promoting China to become a powerful country in science, technology and manufacturing from real estate prosperity, real estate tax cannot be absent.
He said that the introduction of real estate tax is conducive to the stable and healthy development of the real estate market and promotes its return to housing attributes. Under the background of current prosperity, real estate tax can cut off peaks and fill valleys and promote social equity. At present, real estate regulation and control continues vigorously, and the land transfer market is rapidly cooling down. At this time, there must be new taxes to make up for the lack of land transfer income, and it should be implemented as soon as possible.
Expansion of consumption tax
China consumption tax is levied on special consumer goods, including luxury goods such as high-end watches, yachts, golf balls and golf equipment, which can also play a certain role in regulating income distribution. The consumption tax reform implemented since 20 14 has adjusted the scope of collection and some tax items and tax rates, such as 10% consumption tax on ultra-luxury cars on 20 16.
The article points out that it is necessary to strengthen the tax regulation of consumption links and study and expand the scope of consumption tax collection.
Shi said that at present, the consumption tax collection link is mainly at the production end, and one of the clear reform priorities in the State Council is to move the consumption tax collection link back to the wholesale and retail end. Therefore, even if the tax rate remains unchanged, due to the backward movement of the collection link, the tax adjustment of the consumption link will be strengthened. The article clearly wants to study and expand the scope of consumption tax collection, and it is expected to include more service consumption and high-pollution products such as luxury goods and high-end clubs in the future.
Luo Zhiheng believes that consumption tax can be levied on new luxury goods (such as private jets) and high-consumption behaviors (such as consumption in high-end clubs) and high-carbon products.
Research by Jiang Zhen, an associate researcher in national academy of economic strategy, shows that the expansion of consumption tax can include products with high standards, high energy consumption and high pollution, such as private jets, high-grade fur products, high-grade luggage, mahogany furniture and non-degradable packaging materials. Some high-end life services, high energy consumption and high pollution service products can also be considered to be included in the scope of consumption tax collection, such as golf, high-end performances and other cultural and entertainment products, high-end medical and health service products, high-end sauna bathing, racing and other high-end sports.
The article points out that it is necessary to strengthen the standardized management of charity, improve preferential tax policies, and encourage high-income people and enterprises to repay the society more.
In order to promote the prosperity of * * *, China is constructing the basic institutional arrangements of primary distribution, redistribution and third distribution. The third distribution is mainly reflected in charity, which is voluntary rather than compulsory. In order to encourage charitable donations of high-income people, the state usually gives preferential tax policies to support them.
Shi said that at present, the incentives for charitable donations are not enough. For example, donations in kind are regarded as sales, and value-added tax needs to be paid. There are proportional restrictions on donation tax deduction. The above clauses clearly improve the relevant preferential tax policies, and the preferential strength in this respect will be increased in the future.
Li believes that the maximum amount of deduction for individual donations can be expanded, and at the same time, the threshold limit for tax incentives for charitable donations can be appropriately reduced, including appropriately expanding the scope of public welfare social organizations. In addition, the procedures of tax exemption and tax refund should be simplified reasonably, so that enterprises and individuals can really enjoy the benefits of preferential tax policies related to donations, improve their enthusiasm for charity, help improve the distribution pattern of income and wealth, and thus achieve the goal of * * *.
Luo Zhiheng suggested that you can consider not setting the pre-tax deduction limit for charitable donations and deducting them according to the facts. Reduce certification procedures and reduce the cost of certification deduction.