资本弱化税制改革的两种主要方式:ACE与CBIT

On the Two Approaches to Thin Capitalization Reform:ACE and CBIT

公司所得税法中对负债和股权的不同税收待遇使资本弱化现象日益突出,公司股权津贴(ACE)和综合经营所得税(CBIT)能够比较彻底解决此类问题,近年来在一些国家施行。在ACE下,利息可以在税前扣除;在CBIT下,计算应税利润时,利息不再享受税前扣除。二者都保持投资的税收中性。ACE导致税基变窄、税率提高、资金成本降低;CBIT则导致税基变宽、税率降低、资金成本提高。从对投资区位选择的影响看,在ACE下法定税率的提高会降低投资回报,投资会流向法定税率较低的国家,但资金成本下降相当于提高了公司的投资回报,会产生吸引投资的效果。在CBIT下,资金成本上升会引起投资下降。

The different tax treatments of debt and equity make thin capitalization more salient and should be brought under control. As two measures of solving these problems, allowance for company equity （ACE） and comprehensive business income tax （CBIT） have been carried out in some countries. ACE treats equity the same as debt, so interest can be deduced before levying tax, while under CBIT, interest can not be deduced before calculating the business income tax. Both of them are for keeping tax neutrality in investment. In terms of their economic impact, ACE leads to narrower tax base, higher tax rate and lower capital cost, while CBIT results in broader tax base, lower tax rate and higher capital cost. As to their impact upon investment, under ACE, the higher tax rate may decrease investors＇ capital return and push multi-national companies to invest in lower tax rate countries. However, with capital cost decreasing, the return for investment will rise, which may attract more investment. Under CBIT, the increase of capital cost may cause investment to fall.