税收调节职能再思考:理论分析与税制决定

Rethinking of the Functions of Tax Regulation: A Theoretical Analysis for the Design of Tax System

税收调节职能包括微观调节和宏观调节职能,政府更重视宏观调节。在理论上,税收的宏观调节职能可用税收收入弹性和税收乘数来解析。前者表明税收对宏观经济有自动调节的一面,后者则表明税收对宏观经济有被动调节的一面,自动调节决定于税制,被动调节决定于税收政策。相机抉择和税收本身的特点决定了税收的被动调节并不可靠,只在理论层面具有合理性,在实际中要想全面发挥税收职能,应注重加强税收的自动调节,这便需要全面深化税制改革。在十八届三中全会对税收方面做出的安排之外,深化我国税制改革还须考虑两个核心问题,一是全面提升税制弹性,二是增进税制公平程度。

The functions of tax regulation consist of the micro regulation and the macro regulation to which more attention is paid by the government. In theory, the function of the macro regulation can be analyzed through the elasticity of tax revenue and the tax multiplier analysis. The former indicates the active regulation of tax on the macro economy and the latter indicates the passive regulation of tax on the macro economy. The active regulation depends on the tax system and the passive regulation depends on the tax policy. Due to discretion and the inherent tax characteristics, the passive regulation is reasonable in theory but tax un-reliable. In practice, to give full play to the tax functions, stress should be laid to the active regulation. As a result, this paper argues that it is necessary to deepen the tax reform in China in an all-round manner, focusing on both comprehensively- enhanced elasticity of tax system and improved equality of tax system.