美国遗产税的论争、研究之新进展及其对我国的启示

Debate and New Progress in the Research of Estate Tax in the United States and Its Revelation to China

在美国税制体系中,遗产税所占比重并不是很大,一直都排在个人所得税、公司所得税、社会保险税和消费税之后,但是在美国社会尤其是国会内部,废止遗产税的争论一直在持续,并且远远超过对于其他税收的争论,同时也有不少经济专家、法学专家在不断地对遗产税进行实证研究。习近平总书记强调指出,“全体人民共同富裕是中国式现代化的本质特征”。遗产税作为调节收入和财富不平等的最后平衡器,未来必会发挥其应有的作用。当然,一个涉及社会公平的税制的顶层设计需要漫长的研究过程。介绍美国社会学术界和政界对待遗产税的立场以及实证研究情况,以期为我国建立遗产税制度提供一定的理论参考。

In the American tax system,estate tax does not take a large proportion,always ranking behind personal income tax,corporate income tax,social security tax and consumption tax.However,in the American society,especially in the Congress,the debate on abolishing estate tax has been ongoing,and far exceeds the debate on other taxes.At the same time,a lot of economic experts,legal experts continue to carry out empirical research on estate tax.General Secretary Xi Jinping has repeatedly made it clear that we want to achieve common prosperity for all people,and inheritance tax,as the final equalizer of income and wealth inequality,will surely play its due role in the future.Of course,the top-level design of a tax system involving social justice needs a long research process.This paper introduces the position and empirical research of American social academia and political circles on inheritance tax in order to provide some theoretical reference for the establishment of our inheritance tax system.