增值税留抵退税政策的影响与分担机制

Impact and Sharing Mechanism of the VAT Credit Refund Policy

增值税留抵退税制度不仅涉及政府和企业之间的关系,也深刻影响政府间收入分配的财政体制。本文构建理论模型,分析了留抵结转下期抵扣和留抵退税对企业投资和政府财政收入的影响。留抵退税降低了企业投资成本,有利于扩大投资规模。在增值税收入方面,留抵退税相比结转下期抵扣,不仅退还了对企业留抵占用资金的利息,也消除了结转下期抵扣时的重复征税。当前增值税留抵退税地方分担机制没有区分地区内交易和跨地区交易,由于留抵退税的未来收益由企业所在地享有,但是留抵退税的部分成本由其他地区分担,增值税留抵退税地方分担机制会导致区域税负输出。为完善留抵退税制度,建立长效分担机制,解决存量留抵问题,建议通过地方政府债券融资的方式提供留抵退税资金,对退税企业所在地政府提供利息补贴,能够更好解决增值税留抵退税引起的财政资金周转问题。

As value-added tax(VAT)is levied under the invoice credit method,the VAT credit is generated when the input VAT of the enterprise is greater than the output VAT.When VAT policy was introduced in China in 1994,it was stipulated that the credit should be carried forward to the next period of deduction rather than refunded to the enterprise.The estimates from national tax survey data show that the total amount of the national VAT credit has reached CNY 1.2 trillion.The VAT credit is caused by the tax system and the long investment cycle of enterprises;it occupies the working capital of enterprises and increases their tax burden.As an important part of the tax and fee reduction policy,the Chinese government introduced the national VAT credit refund policy in 2019.Eligible enterprises can apply for a refund of 60%of the incremental VAT credit every six months.The credit before 2019 can only be carried forward to the next period of deduction.VAT credit refund has increased the cash flow pressure on local governments’finance.China’s VAT is a shared tax between the central and local governments,with the central and local government each receiving 50%of the VAT paid by enterprises.To alleviate the pressure on the operation of the financial funds of the government where the enterprise is located,a local sharing mechanism for VAT credit refund was also introduced in 2019.This policy stipulates that within the local government’s share(50%),15%is borne by the government where the enterprise is located,and the other 35%is evenly distributed according to the proportion of the VAT shared by all provincial regions in the previous year.China’s VAT credit system has changed from a carry-forward deduction system to a tax credit refund system,which provides new experience and policy practice for improving the consumption-based VAT system.This paper examines the impact of the tax credit refund system on corporate investment and local governments’fiscal revenue,with the following three main contributions.First,we establish a two-period general equilibrium model,which analyzes the corporate investment and economic equilibrium under different tax systems.When the VAT credit is carried forward to the next period of deduction,the VAT rate affects the total investment and total consumption in the economy.When the credit is refunded,the VAT rate will not affect the total investment and total consumption in the economy,thus achieving VAT investment neutrality.Second,we provide a new perspective on the impact of tax credit refund on government revenues.Compared with carrying the VAT credit forward to the next period of deduction,tax credit refund reduces the government tax revenue.From the government’s perspective,VAT credit refund not only reimburses the occupied interest on the funds retained by the enterprise,but also eliminates the duplicate taxation of the occupied interest.Third,we provide theoretical support for the establishment of a reasonable local sharing mechanism that solves the problem of VAT credit refund.The current local sharing mechanism for VAT credit refund will produce regional tax exporting because it does not distinguish between intra-regional transactions and cross-regional transactions.The future benefits of the tax credit refund are received by the government where the enterprise is located,but the cost of the tax credit refund is partly shared by other regions.Providing tax credit refund through local government bond financing can alleviate fiscal fund shortage caused by VAT credit refund.Our analyses have the following policy implications:First,it is necessary to increase the tax credit refund ratio for enterprises to reduce the investment cost and tax burden of enterprises and thus encourage investment.Second,it is feasible to provide local government tax credit refund through bond financing,which solves the tax exporting problem caused by the current local sharing mechanism.Third,expanding the coverage of the policy for VAT credit refund can further increase the vitality of enterprises and eliminate the difference in tax system among industries.