经济学人下载:21世纪各国税制:推陈出新适逢其会(2)

Tax systems have also failed to adapt to technological change.
税制也未能适应技术变革。

The rising importance of intellectual property means that it is almost impossible to pin down where a multinational really makes money.
知识产权越来越重要，这意味着几乎不可能明确跨国公司在哪里能真的赚到钱。

Tech giants like Apple and Amazon stash their intangible capital in havens such as Ireland, and pay too little tax elsewhere.
像苹果公司和亚马逊这样的科技巨头都暗中将自己的无形资本放在像爱尔兰这样的天堂，而在其他地方只缴纳很少的税。

This month it emerged that Amazon’s British subsidiary paid ￡1.7m ($2.2m) in tax last year,
本月得知亚马逊的英国子公司去年缴税170万英镑（合220万英镑），

on profits of ￡72m and revenues of ￡11.4bn.
而利润为7200万英镑，收入为114亿英镑。

By one recent estimate, close to 40% of multinational profits are shifted to low-tax countries each year.
根据最近估计，每年跨国公司近40%的利润都会转移到低税国家。

The “solutions” to such problems often only exacerbate the daunting complexity of today’s tax code—
这类问题的“应对措施”通常只会加剧如今税制的繁复——

and, if lobbies have their way, add extra loopholes too.
而且，如果游说团体很有一套，又会产生新漏洞。

The European Union wants to determine when firms have a “virtual nexus” in a state,
欧盟想知道公司何时同某个国家有“虚拟联系”，

and will then allocate profits across countries using a complicated formula.
之后再通过复杂的公式将利润分配给各国。

America’s supposedly simplifying recent tax reform included stunningly complex new rules for multinationals.
据称，美国近期税制改革简化包括针对跨国公司的极其复杂的新规则。

International efforts to co-operate to prevent profit-shifting have made progress.
防止利润转移的国际努力已取得新进展。

But they are hamstrung by disagreements over how to treat technology firms and competition for investment in a world where capital crosses borders.
但分歧仍然存在，在资本跨国的世界如何对待技术公司和投资竞争仍待商榷。

Fundamental tax reform can boost growth and make societies fairer—
基本的税制改革能促进经济增长和社会公平——

whatever the share of GDP a government takes in tax.
无论政府税收占GDP多少比例。

Fortunately, the principles according to which rich countries can design a good system are clear:
幸运的是，富裕国家可以根据这个原则设计一个好的税制：

taxes should target rents, preserve incentives and be hard to avoid.
税收应以租金为目标，保留激励措施，并使之难以避税。

All countries should tax both property and inheritance more.
所有国家都应对财产和遗产征收更多的税。

These taxes are unpopular but mostly efficient.
如此征税虽不甚受欢迎，但大多行之有效。

In a world where property ownership brings windfalls that persist across generations, such taxes are desirable.
房产所有权可以给千秋万代带来意外之财，在这样的世界，如此征税合情合理。

A conservative first step would be to roll back recent cuts to inheritance tax.
保守的第一步是增加近期削减过的遗产税。

A more radical approach would be to introduce a land-value tax,
更激进的方法是引入土地增值税，

the most efficient of all property taxes and one with a long liberal heritage.
这在所有房产税里面最行之有效，且具长期自由传统。