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 来点切身利益的：中国税制改革，影响深远（如果说了能干） |
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作者：游客 在 海归商务 发贴, 来自【海归网】 http://www.haiguinet.com
请各位踊跃有意在中国创业的发言。
China Sets Tax Plan to Aid Growth
Chinese Firms to Pay Less,
Foreign Ones to Pay More;
Likened to 'Reaganomics'
By MATT POTTINGER, KATHY CHEN and KAREN ELLIOTT HOUSE
Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
BEIJING -- In a major new policy that a senior Beijing official says resembles "Reaganomics," China is preparing to stimulate investment in its economy by reducing taxes for domestic companies and by simplifying the tax code.
The plan, however, would also lead to a de facto increase in the taxes that foreign-invested companies pay, because much of the preferential tax treatment they enjoy would be abolished. By the time the plan is fully implemented in two years or so -- contingent on approval by Chinese lawmakers -- the new tax rate for all foreign and domestic companies will be "in the range of 24% to 28%," Deputy Finance Minister Lou Jiwei, a plan architect, said in an interview Thursday.
"Our major purpose is to standardize the system and block loopholes," Mr. Lou said. But the lower taxes for Chinese companies, accompanied by what he said would be a gradual shift away from using government spending to fuel growth, also underscore how much fiscal policy has evolved in a country that is nominally ruled by communists.
"It's a lot like Reaganomics," Mr. Lou said. "We feel that only through simplifying things and lowering tax rates will revenue collection become more efficient. At the same time, we also want to give fuller play to companies," rather than the government, when it comes to investment in the economy, Mr. Lou said.
A streamlining of China's tax code has long been anticipated. The current system is a tangle of complex rules and loopholes; tax dodging is rife among corporate and individual taxpayers. Changes are also required under World Trade Organization rules, which forbid tax regimes that favor foreign companies over domestic ones, and vice versa. Mr. Lou provided the most detailed description to date of China's reform blueprint.
At present, all companies are theoretically required to pay 33% taxes on their profits. But special tax breaks designed to lure foreign investment into specific industries or geographical regions have meant foreign companies often need to pay only 20% or, in some cases, nothing. "The aim is to find a balance point between the 33% nominal rate and the 20% actual rate," Mr. Lou said. The new rate would be implemented in 2006 at the earliest, pending approval by the National People's Congress next year, he said.
Another significant piece of the reform, affecting value-added taxes, would happen sooner. Companies currently must pay a 17% tax on the value of goods they produce, a cost that is ultimately passed on to consumers. A pilot project to be implemented this year in three northeastern provinces will allow some Chinese companies to take equipment purchases and other fixed-asset expenditures as pretax deductions -- similar to value-added tax practices used in parts of Europe.
The pilot program would first cover eight industries, including oil and chemicals, metallurgy, shipbuilding, automobiles and high technology, Mr. Lou said. If it goes smoothly, "we'll need to quickly expand it to the whole country," he said.
Economists say the plan fits a broader trend in China of putting more investment decisions -- and money -- in the hands of companies rather than the government. "It's a significant boost for domestic companies," said Citigroup economist Yiping Huang. "The government wants to reduce its control over the economy and to encourage the private sector to develop."
Government spending rose to dizzying heights during the 1990s, when China spent huge sums on highways, dams, airports and other infrastructure projects to stave off the effects of the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis. The plan appears to have worked, but at a high price: Record budget deficits that have been funded by record amounts of debt. Mr. Lou said the Finance Ministry might issue more than 700 billion yuan ($84.56 billion) in bonds to domestic buyers this year to cover budget shortfalls, if the National People's Congress consents to the plan.
After the Asian financial crisis, "the government played a significant role in pushing the economy, but now its role is much smaller," he said. Total spending by the public -- including local governments and the private sector -- totaled 5.3 trillion yuan last year, but investment by the central government totaled a mere 140 billion yuan, or 3%, Mr. Lou said. While budget deficits are growing in nominal terms, they are expected to shrink as a percentage of the overall economy, economists say.
But the tax-cut plan carries risks of its own. Investment in some sectors, including ones targeted by the pilot project, is already red-hot -- too hot, Mr. Lou said. "We don't feel the Chinese economy overall is overheated, but some sectors are showing some structural problems," including property, he said. Investments in the steel industry were "over the top. If we complete all our steel investment projects, the [annual] total capacity will be 300 million tons. Is there such a big market in the world? We're quite worried about that."
Mr. Lou said the planned reforms would reduce the government's tax revenue. Under the initial reform proposal drawn up by the ministry in 2000 and based on 1999 statistics, the reforms would cut government tax revenue by 75 billion yuan, but based on 2003 revenue, the drop would be a lot bigger, he said. In 2003, China's total tax revenue was 2.05 trillion yuan.
The government needs every yuan it can gather to help resolve the growing income inequality between coastal and inland areas and between rural and urban areas -- something Mr. Lou termed the "biggest challenge" facing China's leadership.
He said Beijing is raising the amount of money earmarked to ease this problem year by year, including billions of yuan to support programs decreasing farmers' tax burdens and to develop the nation's poorer interior.
Foreign investors would be among those hit hardest by the long-expected tax reforms. Mr. Lou said "a large number of preferential policies" for foreign-invested companies will be abolished, but certain ones may remain, such as a policy that exempts certain foreign-invested companies from paying taxes for two years, and then offers them low tax rates for three subsequent years.
Economists said the higher tax rate probably wouldn't discourage foreign investors. "Why are people coming to China to invest? Cheap labor costs and the domestic market's potential," said Mr. Huang, the Citigroup economist. "I don't think changing the tax rate by this margin will deter foreign investors."
作者：游客 在 海归商务 发贴, 来自【海归网】 http://www.haiguinet.com
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 来点切身利益的：中国税制改革，影响深远（如果说了能干） -- blahblah - (13520 Byte) 2004-2-06 周五, 11:13 (923 reads) - 中文的在这里 -- 自由原子弹 - (4158 Byte) 2004-2-06 周五, 11:20 (277 reads)
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