2010-03-22 02:44:26frank
各國政府以種種名目增加收入
各國正不斷舉債與為富人減稅，加上金融危機，造成連年的財政赤字，台灣的交通違規罰單為政府財政帶來了豐厚的收入，但從北美的加州一直到歐洲的哥本哈根，各政府都藉各種名義向老百姓收錢。
To Fill Budget Gaps, ‘Stealth’ Taxes Are Creeping Up
By MATTHEW SALTMARSH
Published: March 17, 2010
France, promising to improve the environment, is planning to introduce a carbon tax. In Finland, where the government says it wants to improve diets, taxes are back on candy and soft drinks. Similarly, Denmark has added tobacco and some fatty foods to the list of taxed products.
Britain is taking a different tack, considering a so-called horse tax.
All these taxes may be presented as serving virtuous ends, but they also have something else in common: they help plug budget holes deepened by the recession, bailouts and billions in stimulus spending.
At a time when political leaders in Europe and the United States are committed to no additional income-tax burden on the middle class, they also share the advantage of raising revenue without drawing too much attention to the tightening fiscal noose.
As a result, analysts say, taxpayers from California to Copenhagen should brace themselves for more “stealth taxes” — indirect levies like sales taxes, or microcharges on services once provided free, like registering a pet.
Such charges can have many benefits for tax collectors. For one thing, they are less volatile and less dependent on the economic cycle than corporate or income taxes. For another, they are less prone to avoidance and cheaper to collect. Finally, analysts say, they are generally easier to enact.
“Politics comes into it,” said Stephen Matthews, a tax expert at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Raising income taxes is more of a “last resort,” he said.
Not that income taxes are entirely off the table. President Obama has vowed to restore the higher tax rates of the Clinton era on those earning more than $250,000 a year. And the British government just returned its top rate on high incomes to 50 percent after years of declines. But those increases are focused on the wealthy.
Given the public anger over the cost of bailing out the financial system, the idea behind such measures, Mr. Matthews added, is to be seen as tough on the rich.
But countries like Denmark, the Netherlands, France and Belgium already set their top rates around 50 percent, and sometimes higher. For most countries, there is no room to go much further.
President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, for example, was elected in 2007 promising to put more disposable income in people’s pockets. In the areas of income, corporate and wealth taxes, he has kept his pledge, capping increases. But with the bills from the financial crisis now landing — and the deficit rising — he is becoming more creative.
The taxpayers’ pressure group Contribuables Associés claims that since Mr. Sarkozy was elected, at least 20 new taxes have been introduced, including one on crustaceans and mollusks to help pay for a rebate on diesel fuel for fishermen. Copayments for some medications have gone up, as well as television license fees.
An official from the office of Éric Woerth, the French budget minister, disputed the group’s figure, saying it was much lower. The official, who spoke only on condition of anonymity, said that the overall fiscal burden for households and companies had fallen under the government of Mr. Sarkozy.
Other countries have leaned toward increasing or extending the value-added, or sales, tax.
The average V.A.T. rate in the European Union climbed to 19.8 percent in 2009 from 19.5 percent in 2008. It would have been higher except for a temporary cut in Britain that expired in January.
A survey by the accounting firm KPMG in October said that the average V.A.T. rate in Europe would hit 20 percent this year or next.
Beyond the taxes on unhealthy foods, Denmark recently removed tax exemptions on travel agencies, property management and the supply of buildings and land.
Finland, besides resurrecting taxes on candy and carbonated drinks, raised the V.A.T. rate.
“There will also be a mixed bag of other indirect taxes and smaller stealth taxes, which combine revenue generation with other goals like improving the environment,” Niall Campbell, global head of indirect tax at KPMG, said in an interview by telephone from Dublin.
Britain raised the duty it adds to airplane tickets last year, and it will jump again on Nov. 1. While billed as an environmental tax, the revenue goes directly into the Treasury, critics say.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies, a British research group, estimates that revenue from air duties will almost double to £3.3 billion ($5 billion) by 2014.
France has announced plans for a carbon tax, intended to encourage conservation. It would be levied on fuels as a proportion of their emissions. It is supposed to be revenue-neutral, with a range of exemptions. Critics, including the opposition Socialist Party, argue that it will fall disproportionately on the poor.
Other taxes are focused even more narrowly.
Last year, Northern Ireland announced that it would raise the cost of a dog license tenfold to £50, ostensibly to better tackle the problem of strays and violent attacks.
London released a draft bill in January that would establish an animal health body, the cost to be met partly by livestock owners. Equestrians have called it the horse tax and are angry that a leisure industry will have to pay for a measure to aid farmers, who already receive payouts from the European Union.
Di Grissell, a former jockey and the owner of Grissell Racing, a racehorse training facility in East Sussex, England, expects her personal income and business to be squeezed.
“The government’s being very crafty by bringing in back-door tax increases,” she said. “The good guys — people who work and are trying to build businesses — are being taxed to the hilt.”
A similar trend is playing out in the United States. In 2008, Winter Haven, Fla., started charging “accident response fees” to move the financial burden of tending to accidents directly to at-fault drivers.
This month, Nevada officials drafted an emergency regulation to raise entrance fees and season passes for state parks to help plug a gap in state funds, according to The Associated Press.
Data from the Tax Policy Center, a joint venture of the Urban Institute and Brookings Institution, shows that the total state and local government revenue as a percentage of personal incomes has been steadily rising since the start of the last decade.
By contrast, experts said, most Western governments will not tinker with corporate tax. Those receipts naturally fall during downturns as companies earn less. Corporate tax is also seen as a zero-sum game, as raising rates could lead companies to flee to lower-tax jurisdictions.
In recent years, the overall tax burden has been volatile. Among counties belonging to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, based in Paris, tax rates were highest around 2000, then dropped in response to the dot-com recession, before rising again.
“Governments have tended to use the benefits of new growth over the past decade to cut taxes rather than improve public finances,” Mr. Matthews of the O.E.C.D. said.
“They thought that growth was sustainable,” he added. “In hindsight, it clearly wasn’t.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/18/business/global/18tax.html?ref=business
The story was taken from The New York Times. The copyright remains with the New York Times Company. The author of the story and The New York Times are not involved with, nor endorse the production of this blog.
To Fill Budget Gaps, ‘Stealth’ Taxes Are Creeping Up
By MATTHEW SALTMARSH
Published: March 17, 2010
France, promising to improve the environment, is planning to introduce a carbon tax. In Finland, where the government says it wants to improve diets, taxes are back on candy and soft drinks. Similarly, Denmark has added tobacco and some fatty foods to the list of taxed products.
Britain is taking a different tack, considering a so-called horse tax.
All these taxes may be presented as serving virtuous ends, but they also have something else in common: they help plug budget holes deepened by the recession, bailouts and billions in stimulus spending.
virtuous adj. 1. behaving in a very good and moral way 品行端正的；品德高的；有道德的 2. claiming to behave better or have better morals than other people 自命不凡的；自命清高的
At a time when political leaders in Europe and the United States are committed to no additional income-tax burden on the middle class, they also share the advantage of raising revenue without drawing too much attention to the tightening fiscal noose.
noose n. a circle that is tied in one end of a rope with a knot that allows the circle to get smaller as the other end of the rope is pulled 繩套；套索；活扣
As a result, analysts say, taxpayers from California to Copenhagen should brace themselves for more “stealth taxes” — indirect levies like sales taxes, or microcharges on services once provided free, like registering a pet.
levy n. an extra amount of money that has to be paid, especially as a tax to the government. 徵收額；（尤指）稅款
Such charges can have many benefits for tax collectors. For one thing, they are less volatile and less dependent on the economic cycle than corporate or income taxes. For another, they are less prone to avoidance and cheaper to collect. Finally, analysts say, they are generally easier to enact.
volatile adj. of a person or their moods 人或其情緒 changing easily from one mood to another 易變的；無定性的；無常性的
“Politics comes into it,” said Stephen Matthews, a tax expert at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Raising income taxes is more of a “last resort,” he said.
Not that income taxes are entirely off the table. President Obama has vowed to restore the higher tax rates of the Clinton era on those earning more than $250,000 a year. And the British government just returned its top rate on high incomes to 50 percent after years of declines. But those increases are focused on the wealthy.
Given the public anger over the cost of bailing out the financial system, the idea behind such measures, Mr. Matthews added, is to be seen as tough on the rich.
But countries like Denmark, the Netherlands, France and Belgium already set their top rates around 50 percent, and sometimes higher. For most countries, there is no room to go much further.
President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, for example, was elected in 2007 promising to put more disposable income in people’s pockets. In the areas of income, corporate and wealth taxes, he has kept his pledge, capping increases. But with the bills from the financial crisis now landing — and the deficit rising — he is becoming more creative.
The taxpayers’ pressure group Contribuables Associés claims that since Mr. Sarkozy was elected, at least 20 new taxes have been introduced, including one on crustaceans and mollusks to help pay for a rebate on diesel fuel for fishermen. Copayments for some medications have gone up, as well as television license fees.
crustacean n. any creature with a soft body that is divided into sections, and a hard outer shell. Most crustaceans live in water.Crabs,lobsters and shrimps are all crustaceans. 甲殼綱動物（如螃蟹、龍蝦和褐蝦
mollusk n. 【美】軟體動物
mollusk n. 【美】軟體動物
An official from the office of Éric Woerth, the French budget minister, disputed the group’s figure, saying it was much lower. The official, who spoke only on condition of anonymity, said that the overall fiscal burden for households and companies had fallen under the government of Mr. Sarkozy.
Other countries have leaned toward increasing or extending the value-added, or sales, tax.
The average V.A.T. rate in the European Union climbed to 19.8 percent in 2009 from 19.5 percent in 2008. It would have been higher except for a temporary cut in Britain that expired in January.
A survey by the accounting firm KPMG in October said that the average V.A.T. rate in Europe would hit 20 percent this year or next.
Beyond the taxes on unhealthy foods, Denmark recently removed tax exemptions on travel agencies, property management and the supply of buildings and land.
Finland, besides resurrecting taxes on candy and carbonated drinks, raised the V.A.T. rate.
resurrect v. to bring back into use something, such as a belief, a practice, etc., that had disappeared or been forgotten 重新應用；恢復使用；使復興
“There will also be a mixed bag of other indirect taxes and smaller stealth taxes, which combine revenue generation with other goals like improving the environment,” Niall Campbell, global head of indirect tax at KPMG, said in an interview by telephone from Dublin.
Britain raised the duty it adds to airplane tickets last year, and it will jump again on Nov. 1. While billed as an environmental tax, the revenue goes directly into the Treasury, critics say.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies, a British research group, estimates that revenue from air duties will almost double to £3.3 billion ($5 billion) by 2014.
France has announced plans for a carbon tax, intended to encourage conservation. It would be levied on fuels as a proportion of their emissions. It is supposed to be revenue-neutral, with a range of exemptions. Critics, including the opposition Socialist Party, argue that it will fall disproportionately on the poor.
Other taxes are focused even more narrowly.
Last year, Northern Ireland announced that it would raise the cost of a dog license tenfold to £50, ostensibly to better tackle the problem of strays and violent attacks.
ostensible adj. seeming or stated to be real or true, when this is perhaps not the case 表面的；宣稱的；假託的
London released a draft bill in January that would establish an animal health body, the cost to be met partly by livestock owners. Equestrians have called it the horse tax and are angry that a leisure industry will have to pay for a measure to aid farmers, who already receive payouts from the European Union.
livestock n. the animals kept on a farm, for example cows or sheep 牲畜；家畜
equestrian n. connected with riding horses, especially as a sport 騎術的
payout n. a large amount of money that is given to somebody 付出的巨款
equestrian n. connected with riding horses, especially as a sport 騎術的
payout n. a large amount of money that is given to somebody 付出的巨款
Di Grissell, a former jockey and the owner of Grissell Racing, a racehorse training facility in East Sussex, England, expects her personal income and business to be squeezed.
“The government’s being very crafty by bringing in back-door tax increases,” she said. “The good guys — people who work and are trying to build businesses — are being taxed to the hilt.”
hilt n. the handle of a sword, knife, etc. 刀（或劍等的）柄
(up) to the hilt as much as possible 盡量；盡可能
(up) to the hilt as much as possible 盡量；盡可能
A similar trend is playing out in the United States. In 2008, Winter Haven, Fla., started charging “accident response fees” to move the financial burden of tending to accidents directly to at-fault drivers.
This month, Nevada officials drafted an emergency regulation to raise entrance fees and season passes for state parks to help plug a gap in state funds, according to The Associated Press.
Data from the Tax Policy Center, a joint venture of the Urban Institute and Brookings Institution, shows that the total state and local government revenue as a percentage of personal incomes has been steadily rising since the start of the last decade.
By contrast, experts said, most Western governments will not tinker with corporate tax. Those receipts naturally fall during downturns as companies earn less. Corporate tax is also seen as a zero-sum game, as raising rates could lead companies to flee to lower-tax jurisdictions.
tinker v. to make small changes to something in order to repair or improve it, especially in a way that may not be helpful （尤指不起作用的）小修補，小修理
In recent years, the overall tax burden has been volatile. Among counties belonging to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, based in Paris, tax rates were highest around 2000, then dropped in response to the dot-com recession, before rising again.
“Governments have tended to use the benefits of new growth over the past decade to cut taxes rather than improve public finances,” Mr. Matthews of the O.E.C.D. said.
“They thought that growth was sustainable,” he added. “In hindsight, it clearly wasn’t.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/18/business/global/18tax.html?ref=business
The story was taken from The New York Times. The copyright remains with the New York Times Company. The author of the story and The New York Times are not involved with, nor endorse the production of this blog.