对当前我国税负问题的看法

Some Thoughts on the Tax Burden in China

税负是当前我国经济中的一个热点问题。在经济处于下行期间,舆论普遍认为我国税负较重。然而,按照国际通行的税负口径,我国的宏观税率与主要国家相比并不高,目前不超过25%。本文认为,一国税负轻重除了要看税负高低外,还要看税款的使用方向,即财政支出结构。近年来,我国财政一般公共预算用于民生的支出增速大大超过了税收收入的增速,这说明我国的税负状况是改善的。至于各界关注的企业税负重问题,本文认为这主要因为我国90%以上的税收是企业缴纳的,即使是企业可以转嫁的流转税也会给企业造成短期性税收负担;另外,企业缴纳和负担的社会保险缴费比例过高也是企业感觉负担重的一个重要原因。企业税负重的问题只能通过对政府的筹资结构进行通盘考虑来加以解决。

Tax burden is one of the most provocative economic issues in China. Nowadays when the economy slows down, it has been widely argued that China＇s tax burden is relatively heavy. By employing the calculation method of tax burden commonly adopted by the international society, this paper estimates that the current macro tax burden ratio is less than 25% in China, which is not greater than those of other major countries. The paper proposes that the spending of tax revenues should also be put into consideration along with the macro tax burden ratio in the discussion of a country＇s tax burden. In the past few years, the growth rate of China＇s public spending on social welfare has greatly exceeded the growth rate of tax revenue, which suggests that China＇s tax burden has become lighter. As to the common intuition of heavy tax burden of enterprises in China, the paper argues that the intuition is caused by that the fact that more than 90 percent of China＇s total tax revenues are paid by the enterprises. Meanwhile, the Chinese enterprises also are required to pay a higher level of social insurance contributions, which further exacerbates employers＇ feeling of heavy tax burden. The paper concludes that the discussion of a country＇s tax burden should be built upon the comprehensive understanding of the finance structure of its government.