Chap_12 中山大学吴柏林教授“曼昆·经济学原理”绝

TheDesignoftheTaxSystemChapter12Copyright©2001byHarcourt,Inc.Allrightsreserved.  Requestsforpermissiontomakecopiesofanypartoftheworkshouldbemailedto:PermissionsDepartment,HarcourtCollegePublishers,6277SeaHarborDrive,Orlando,Florida32887-6777.“Inthisworldnothingiscertainbutdeathandtaxes.”...BenjaminFranklin0204060801001789TaxespaidinBenFranklin’stimeaccountedfor5percentoftheaverageAmerican’sincome.“Inthisworldnothingiscertainbutdeathandtaxes.”...BenjaminFranklin0204060801001789TodayToday,taxesaccountforuptoathirdoftheaverageAmerican’sincome.GovernmentRevenueasaPercentageofGDPCentralGovernmentTaxRevenueasaPercentofGDPTheFederalGovernmentTheU.S.federalgovernmentcollectsabouttwo-thirdsofthetaxesinoureconomy.TheFederalGovernmentThelargestsourceofrevenueforthefederalgovernmentistheindividualincometax.TaxLiabilityWithrespecttopayingincometaxes,anindividual’staxliability(howmuchhe/sheowes)isbasedontotalincome.IndividualIncomeTaxesThemarginaltaxrateisthetaxrateappliedtoeachadditionaldollarofincome.Higher-incomefamiliespayalargerpercentageoftheirincomeintaxes.FederalIncomeTaxRates:1999TheFederalGovernmentandTaxesPayrollTaxes:taxonthewagesthatafirmpaysitsworkers.SocialInsuranceTaxes:revenuefromthesetaxesisearmarkedtopayforSocialSecurityandMedicare.ExciseTaxes:taxesonspecificgoodslikegasoline,cigarettes,andalcoholicbeverages.ReceiptsoftheFederalGovernment:1999ReceiptsoftheFederalGovernment...IndividualIncomeTax,48%SocialInsuranceTax,34%CorporateTax,10%ExciseTax,4%Other,4%FederalGovernmentSpendingGovernmentspendingincludestransferpaymentsandthepurchaseofpublicgoodsandservices.Transferpaymentsaregovernmentpaymentsnotmadeinexchangeforagoodoraservice.Transferpaymentsarethelargestofthegovernment’sexpenditures.FederalGovernmentSpendingExpenseCategory:SocialSecurityNationalDefenseNetInterestIncomeSecurityMedicareHealthOtherFederalGovernmentSpending:1999CategoryAmount(billions)AmountperPersonPercentofSpendingSocialsecurity$393$1,44523%Nationaldefense2771,01816Netinterest24389314Incomesecurity22783713Medicare20575412Health1435268Other23987914Total$1,727$6,350100%FederalGovernmentSpending:1999...SocialSecurity,23%Defense,16%NetInterest,13%Incomesecurity,14%Medicare,12%Health,8%Other,14%,FinancialConditionsoftheFederalBudgetAbudgetdeficitoccurswhenthereisanexcessofgovernmentspendingovergovernmentreceipts.Governmentfinancesthedeficitbyborrowingfromthepublic.FinancialConditionsoftheFederalBudgetAbudgetsurplusoccurswhengovernmentreceiptsaregreaterthangovernmentspending.Abudgetsurplusmaybeusedtoreducethegovernment’soutstandingdebts.StateandLocalGovernmentsStateandlocalgovernmentscollectabout40percentoftaxespaid.StateandLocalGovernmentReceiptsSalesTaxesPropertyTaxesIndividualIncomeTaxesCorporateIncomeTaxesOtherTaxes$StateandLocalGovernmentSpendingEducationPublicWelfareHighwaysOtherReceiptsofStateandLocalGovernments:1996SpendingofStateandLocalGovernments:1996CategoryAmount(billions)AmountperPersonPercentofSpendingEducation$399$1,50633%Publicwelfare19774317Highways792987Other5181,95543Total$1,193$4,502100%Policymakershavetwoobjectivesindesigningataxsystem...EfficiencyEquityTaxesandEfficiencyOnetaxsystemismoreefficientthananotherifitraisesthesameamountofrevenueatasmallercosttotaxpayers.Anefficienttaxsystemisonethatimposesthesmallestdeadweightlossesandadministrativeburdenspossible.TheCostofTaxestoTaxpayersThetaxpaymentitselfDeadweightlossesAdministrativeburdensDeadweightLossesofTaxationBecausetaxesdistortincentives,theyentaildeadweightlosses.Thedeadweightlossofataxisthereductionoftheeconomicwell-beingoftaxpayersinexcessoftheamountofrevenueraisedbythegovernment.AdministrativeBurdensComplyingwithtaxlawscreatesadditionaldeadweightlosses.Taxpayersloseadditionaltimeandmoneydocumenting,computing,andavoidingtaxesoverandabovetheactualtaxestheypay.Theadministrativeburdenofanytaxsystemispartoftheinefficiencyitcreates.MarginalTaxRatesversusAverageTaxRatesTheaveragetaxrateistotaltaxespaiddividedbytotalincome.Themarginaltaxrateistheextrataxespaidonanadditionaldollarofincome.Lump-SumTaxesAlump-sumtaxisataxthatisthesameamountforeveryperson,regardlessofearningsoranyactionsthatthepersonmighttake.TaxesandEquityHowshouldtheburdenoftaxesbedividedamongthepopulation?Howdoweevaluatewhetherataxsystemisfair?PrinciplesofTaxationBenefitsprincipleAbility-to-payprinciple$BenefitsPrincipleThebenefitsprincipleistheideathatpeopleshouldpaytaxesbasedonthebenefitstheyreceivefromgovernmentservices.Anexampleisagasolinetax:Taxrevenuesfromagasolinetaxareusedtofinanceourhighwaysystem.Peoplewhodrivethemostalsopaythemosttowardmaintainingroads.Ability-to-PayPrincipleTheability-to-payprincipleistheideathattaxesshouldbeleviedonapersonaccordingtohowwellthatpersoncanshouldertheburden.Theability-to-payprincipleleadstotwocorollarynotionsofequity.VerticalequityHorizontalequityVerticalEquityVerticalequityistheideathattaxpayerswithagreaterabilitytopaytaxesshouldpaylargeramounts.Forexample,peoplewithhigherincomesshouldpaymorethanpeoplewithlowerincomes.VerticalEquityandAlternativeTaxSystemsAproportionaltaxisoneforwhichhigh-incomeandlow-incometaxpayerspaythesamefractionofincome.Aregressivetaxisoneforwhichhigh-incometaxpayerspayasmallerfractionoftheirincomethandolow-incometaxpayers.Aprogressivetaxisoneforwhichhigh-incometaxpayerspayalargerfractionoftheirincomethandolow-incometaxpayers.ThreeTaxSystemsTheBurdenofFederalTaxesHorizontalEquityHorizontalequityistheideathattaxpayerswithsimilarabilitiestopaytaxesshouldpaythesameamounts.Forexample,twofamilieswiththesamenumberofdependentsandthesameincomelivingindifferentpartsofthecountryshouldpaythesamefederaltaxes.The“MarriageTax”Marriageaffectsthetaxliabilityofacoupleinthattaxlawtreatsamarriedcoupleasasingletaxpayer.Whenacouplegetsmarried,theystoppayingtaxesasindividualsandstartpayingtaxesasafamily.Ifeachhasasimilarincome,theirtotaltaxliabilityriseswhentheygetmarried.TaxIncidenceandTaxEquityThedifficultyinformulatingtaxpolicyisbalancingtheoftenconflictinggoalsofefficiencyandequity.Thestudyofwhobearstheburdenoftaxesiscentraltoevaluatingtaxequity.Thisstudyiscalledtaxincidence.FlypaperTheoryofTaxIncidenceAccordingtotheflypapertheory,theburdenofatax,likeaflyonflypaper,stickswhereveritfirstlands.TheFlatTaxFirstproposedbyeconomistRobertHallinthe1980s.Proposedasanalternativetothecurrenttaxsystem.Asingle,lowtaxratewouldapplytoallincomeintheeconomy.ProposedBenefitsoftheFlatTaxTheflattaxwouldeliminatemanyofthedeductionsallowedunderthecurrentincometaxtherebybroadeningthetaxbaseandreducingmarginaltaxratesformostpeople.Becausetheflattaxissimple,theadministrativeburdenoftaxationwouldbegreatlyreduced.ProposedBenefitsoftheFlatTaxBecausealltaxpayerswouldbefacedwiththesamemarginaltaxrate,thetaxcouldbecollectedatthesourceofincome.Theflattaxwouldreplaceboththepersonalandcorporateincometaxesandwouldeliminatethecurrentdoubletaxationofcorporateprofits.Theflattaxcouldincreasetheincentivetosave.SummaryTheU.S.governmentraisesrevenueusingvarioustaxes.Incometaxesandpayrolltaxesraisethemostrevenueforthefederalgovernment.Salestaxesandpropertytaxesraisethemostrevenueforthestateandlocalgovernments.SummaryEquityandefficiencyarethetwomostimportantgoalsofthetaxsystem.Theefficiencyofataxsystemreferstothecostsitimposesonthetaxpayers.Theequityofataxsystemconcernswhetherthetaxburdenisdistributedfairlyamongthepopulation.SummaryAccordingtothebenefitsprinciple,itisfairforpeopletopaytaxesbasedonthebenefitstheyreceivefromthegovernment.Accordingtotheability-to-payprinciple,itisfairforpeopletopaytaxesontheircapabilitytohandlethefinancialburden.SummaryThedistributionoftaxburdensisnotthesameasthedistributionoftaxbills.Muchofthedebateovertaxpolicyarisesbecausepeoplegivedifferentweightstothetwogoalsofefficiencyandequity.GraphicalReview“Inthisworldnothingiscertainbutdeathandtaxes.”...BenjaminFranklin0204060801001789TaxespaidinBenFranklin’stimeaccountedfor5percentoftheaverageAmerican’sincome.“Inthisworldnothingiscertainbutdeathandtaxes.”...BenjaminFranklin0204060801001789TodayToday,taxesaccountforuptoathirdoftheaverageAmerican’sincome.GovernmentRevenueasaPercentageofGDPReceiptsoftheFederalGovernment...IndividualIncomeTax,48%SocialInsuranceTax,34%CorporateTax,10%ExciseTax,4%Other,4%FederalGovernmentSpending:1999...SocialSecurity,23%Defense,16%NetInterest,13%Incomesecurity,14%Medicare,12%Health,8%Other,14%,