房地产税的政府层级归属:作为地方税的理论依据与美国经验启示

The Administrative Level of Property Tax:Theoretical Basis as a Local Tax and Experience from the United States

本文从财税体系和政府治理的视角阐述房地产税作为地方税的理论缘由,说明房地产税作为地方税有着合理的理论支撑,同时亦是被实践所证明的最终选择。理论上,财政分级制和公共选择理论构成了房地产税作为地方税的理论基础;实践上,房地产税的税基不可移动决定了房地产税是受益税的最优选择,而受益税特征进而决定了房地产税是地方税。经济社会发展的复杂性提高使得纳税人和受益者的匹配只有基层政府才更有效率,高层级政府逐步放弃房地产税而转移到其他税种是其必然选择。地区间异质性的提高进一步印证了不同地区需要差异化的税负以及相应的公共服务支出设计。本文最后以美国为例,从房地产税在美国政府层级间演变的历史以及美国财税体制变迁的实践出发,阐述为什么房地产税在美国历史上曾有相当长的时间是州政府最主要的收入来源,又如何从州税逐步下沉到最终几乎完全由地方政府征收和使用的过程。

From the perspectives of fiscal and tax system and local governance, this article illustrates the reasons why property tax is a local tax, conforming that it has a reasonable theoretical support and was proved by practice. In theory, fiscal federalism and public choice constitute the theoretical basis of property tax as a local tax. In practice, immobility of tax base characterizes property tax as benefit tax, and the feature of benefit tax further make property tax a local tax for various reasons. Due to the increased complexity of social - economic development, the difficulty of matching taxpayers and beneficiaries makes local governments more efficient in service provi- sion, highlighting the reason why higher level government gradually switch form property tax to other taxes. The improved regional heterogeneity further confirm that different localities need to differentiate the designs of tax burden and corresponding public service provision. Taking the U.S. as an example, from the historical evolution of property among different government levels and the development of fiscal and taxation practice, this paper finally clarifies why property tax had been the most important revenue source of state governments for a long time in the history and how property tax gradually sinks to be a complete local tax collected and used by local governments.