Market-Oriented Regulation of Environmental Problems in the Netherlands

Two functioning regulatory tax programs in The Netherlands indicate certain conditions under which such frequently-advocated but infrequently-adopted regulatory strategies can be successfully implemented. A flat fee on oxygen-demanding substances in industrial effluents, introduced in 1970, has been very successful, stimulating a 90% reduction in pollution and a search for cost-effective abatement measures. However, a recently-enacted law aimed at agricultural pollution, using a combination of direct controls and taxes on polluting inputs, has led to resistance and is not likely to be very successful. Based on these programs, regulatory taxes seem more likely to be politically and technically feasible when (a) emissions can be monitored economically; (b) the relation between emissions and environmental harm is relatively uniform and predictable; (c) implementing agencies have the technical competence and strong political and economic incentives to monitor and tax strictly; (d) the regulatory taxes apply uniformly to all sources of pollution; (e) economic efficiency is strongly valued in environmental policymaking.     

西方典型发达国家物业税发展情况比较研究

物业税是当今中国税制改革的一个热点问题,也是各国税收制度的一项重要内容,由于历史、文化、国情以及经济调控目标各异,各国物业税在征收主体、征税对象、计税方法等方面存在较大差异.比较美、加、日等西方典型发达国家物业税收制度,分析国外物业税的政策趋向,试图将其一些先进方法思想运用到中国的物业税改革中,从而为中国顺利的推行物业税提供借鉴.     

个人所得税纳税义务的法律建构

现代宪法规定国民有依照法律纳税的基本义务,而财产权的行使应同时有益于公共福祉,据此,个人所得税法建制侧重于设定纳税义务的成立要件和确定程序。个人所得税纳税义务是在所得分项基础上经由法律创设的,分为税款缴纳的主给付义务和纳税申报的从给付义务,可能由支付所得者或取得所得者履行。分类税制下,纳税义务主要由负有扣缴义务的支付所得者代为履行,取得所得者则负有根本性的纳税义务,充分体现税收稽征效率。综合所得范畴的引入,使得核心课税要素由所得这一征税客体转向纳税人,更能实现量能课税原则。纳税人有依照法律纳税的权利和义务,由此,重构纳税义务如下:其一,横向的并行结构,包括综合课征和分类课征等模式下的纳税义务,后者可能包含税收负担从轻权;其二,纵向的递进结构,包括预扣预缴和汇算清缴等阶段中的纳税义务,可能包含补税义务或申请退税权。     

旅游环境税的国外实践及其对我国的借鉴

环境友好型社会的构建离不开绿色税收的支持。环境税作为绿色税收的一种,调节着社会经济活动的各个方面。旅游业作为一项新兴的经济活动,也纳入了环境税的调整范围。旅游环境税的征收源于旅游业无形成本的内化,但旅游环境税除了内化无形成本、控制环境污染外,还承载着更多的促进税收公平、实现税收效率、改善财政状况、增加劳动就业等目标。西班牙巴利阿里群岛生态税作为实施旅游环境征税的成功范例,充分地说明了运用环境税在促进旅游业发展中的作用,也对我国旅游业环境税制的建立从税种设立、征税范围、扣缴义务人、计税基数、税率、征税主体等方面提供了全方位的参考。     

Tax-deductible alcohol: an issue of public health policy and prevention strategy

In 1982 U.S. businesses will spend over $10 billion (12 percent of the total retail alcohol market) on alcoholic beverages which will be consumed by top executives, professionals, and other white-collar employees in a variety of business and personal settings. The Internal Revenue Service, through a series of vaguely defined tax deduction categories, permits these expenditures to be deducted from corporate and individual taxes as "ordinary and necessary" to the conduct of business, costing U.S. taxpayers between $3 and $5 billion annually in lost tax receipts. This article examines the scope and legal underpinnings of the IRS tax expenditure policy; its impact on drinking habits and drinking problems among the nation's business and professional elite; the arguments for permitting the subsidization of corporate drinking habits; reform measures that are available to policymakers; and the barriers to effective implementation.     

合伙企业所得税制度的困境和出路——从创业投资企业个人合伙人所得税争议切入

个人合伙人来源于创业投资企业的所得是否能够适用20%的所得税税率的争议,其实质是我国合伙企业所得税制度在理论上是遵循“集合论”还是“实体论”的争议。根据这两种不同理论构建的合伙企业所得税制度之间存在巨大的差别。我国对合伙企业所得税只在合伙人层面征收仅仅是一种形式上符合“集合论”的政策选择。如果以我国《个人所得税法》为前提考察有关税收规范中的具体规则可以发现,支撑我国合伙企业所得税制度的核心是“实体论”。这种形式上采用“集合论”而实质上为“实体论”的混合模式使得合伙企业所得税制度形成了独有的内在逻辑,即合伙企业虽然不作为纳税主体但其是阻隔所得穿透的实体,这需要一个理论清晰、具有普遍适用性的单行立法来体现。在不改变当前以“实体论”为主的路径下,合伙企业所得税制度的立法还应当区分有限合伙人和普通合伙人的税收待遇,从而更好地促进税负公平。     

Neutralization and Tax Evasion: How Effective Would a Moral Appeal Be in Improving Compliance to Tax Laws?

The failure of individuals to pay their taxes in full is a serious budgetary problem for the federal government. Existing research (Schwartz and Orleans, 1967; Grasmick and Scott, 1982) suggests that efforts to increase the guilt feelings experienced for tax evasion might improve compliance. However, neutralization theory (Sykes and Matza, 1957) predicts that guilt feelings can be reduced by neutralization strategies which justify guilt-producing behavior, compromising the inhibiting effect of guilt feelings. Our research shows that through the use of neutralization strategies which justify tax evasion the inhibiting effect of guilt feelings is sharply reduced. The implications of this finding for tax compliance programs based on appeals to the moral obligation of paying taxes are discussed.     

A road map for universal coverage: finding a pass through the financial mountains

Government already pays for more than half of U.S. health care costs, and nearly all universal health insurance proposals assume continued government involvement through tax subsidies and other means. The question of what specific taxes could be used to finance universal coverage is, however, seldom carefully examined, in part due to efforts by health care reform proponents to downplay tax issues. In this article we undertake such an examination. We argue that the challenges of relying on taxes for universal coverage are even greater than is generally appreciated, but that they can nevertheless be met. A proposal to fund a universal health insurance voucher system with a value-added tax illustrates issues that would arise for tax-financed plans in general and provides a broad framework for a bipartisan approach to universal coverage. We discuss significant problems that such an approach would face and suggest solutions. We outline a long-term political and legislative strategy for enacting universal coverage that draws upon precedents set by comparable legislative initiatives, including tax reform and Medicare. The results are an improved understanding of the relationship between systemic health care finance reform and taxation and a politically realistic plan for universal coverage that employs undisguised taxes.     

论环境收入税

环境税主要包括收回成本型环境税、提供刺激型环境税和增加收入型环境税三种类型,而环境收入税是增加收入型环境税的主要税种。为贯彻"受益者付费原则",我国在开征排污税、污染产品税等环境税的同时,也应开征环境收入税。环境收入税应以在我国境内从事生产、经营活动并取得销售(营业)收入的的单位和个人作为其纳税义务人,以应税收入为其计税依据,适用税率为比例税率。     

A ‘Fool’ and His Sugar-Sweetened Beverage are Soon Taxed

Tax policy informed by Libertarian paternalism suggests that taxes should be levied on non-‘rational’ choice (i.e., where a person makes a ‘foolish’ decision by their own internal standards). In respect of excise taxes on sugar sweetened beverages, the regressivity of such policies can then be justified by reference to a progressive health effect, since the poor are more sensitive to changes in price and disproportionately tend to consume sugar sweetened beverages. However, as it currently stands, that conclusion is based merely on a presumption of irrationality of the poor as a class and neither the relative price of goods subject to such taxes, nor the associated ‘welfare loss’ from the levy of the tax, have been systematically measured. Such a presumption of non-‘rationality’ in food choice only holds with respect to persons who are not bound by relative prices of food, namely the wealthy. Accordingly, it is reasonable for scholars to consider the levy of excise taxes on unhealthy food consumed primarily by the wealthy (e.g., foie gras) as a ‘nudge’ toward a healthier food choice. Furthermore, the poor are rational agents capable of analysing and comparing relative prices of food products taking into account the health effects. As various scholars have now proposed in medical journals, any incremental tax levied on the poor in respect of sugar-sweetened beverages should be offset, for example, with a credit for healthy foods including fruits and vegetables.     

Is tax competition harmful and is the EU an optimal tax area?

This paper examines the issue of harmfulness of tax competition commenting on issues like welfare, growth, redistribution, harmonization and individual freedom. A simple game theoretical ap proach is formulated, where for the first time the two players start from unequal initial conditions, thus influencing strategy and outcomes. Next we propose the new criterion of Optimal Tax Area under which the possibility and feasibility of tax harmonization is examined. The policy implication of our paper is that we do not expect harmonization for direct taxes like corporate taxes in the EU in the near future and if so, harmonization of corporate tax rates on low levels. We conclude that both more theoretic research and empirical evidence are needed before we can answer with certainty whether tax competition is harmful or not. classification A1 . D6 . H0     

税的本质探析

税的本质应为无对价的公法之债。作为纳税人全体的人民是债务人,其纳税后有权请求作为债权人的国家提供公共产品;而作为整体和抽象意义上的国家是实质债权人,它在向人民提供公共产品后,有权请求作为债务人的人民以纳税的方式偿付享用公共产品应当支付的费用和价格。税之债说为迄今的法律学上所一向忽视的“公法上的债务”这一领域带来了光明,它赋予税法以崭新的地位和体系变为可能。     

Selling Scientific Taxation: The Treasury Department's Campaign for Tax Reform in the 1920s

The received interpretation of the Mellon tax reforms in the 1920s describes a reactionary roll-back of the first, progressive, permanent income tax system in United States history. This essay revises that interpretation in important ways.
The Treasury Department of Secretary Andrew W. Mellon proposed and passed tax reform legislation in the 1920s that radically reduced marginal tax rates on wealthy individuals from World War 1 highs. The Mellon plan was developed by attorneys from the previous Democratic administration. Working with the foremost tax professionals of the day and deeply committed to the principles of progressive income taxation, they intended the establishment of a permanent peacetime tax system for a modern industrial society. They called their taxplan scientific taxation. The Treasury Department policymakers anticipated determined opposition to their program and consciously embarked on an extensive public relations campaign to convince the general public that reducing taxes on wealthy people was good for them because it made the whole society richer and more dynamic.
This essay tells the story of how the Mellon plan took shape, and of the public relations campaign waged to secure its enactment. This essay also suggests that the Treasury Department's campaign to sell scientific tax reform to the general public generated a dialogue that facilitated popular acceptance of modern industrial capitalism.     

General prevention of tax evasion: A factorial survey approach

A factorial survey design is used to examine the taxpaying decisions of a random sample of adults. Data collected by asking respondents to rate their chances of cheating on their taxes under varying experimental conditions show only a small proportion of the sample expects to evade taxes. The few likely offenders judge lower tax rates to reduce their incentive to cheat, while higher audit rates, heavier prison sentences, and fines act as key inhibitors to tax cheating. The implications of this methodology and these data for future studies of tax evasion and deviance are briefly discussed.An earlier draft of this paper was presented at the 1986 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Criminology in Atlanta, Georgia.     

IRC § 71 MAY IMPOVERISH CHILDREN,ENDANGER EX‐WIVES,AND DISRUPT FEDERALISM1

The Internal Revenue Code provides that alimony will be deductible to the payor and taxable to the payee. Although this treatment may seem contrary to the payee's interest, compared to making the payments non‐deductible and nontaxable, it can increase the payee's after‐tax income. The payor's deduction will allow larger payments at no after‐tax cost increase; if the payee is in a lower tax bracket, then even after paying taxes the payee will have more resources. Because this favorable treatment of alimony does not apply to child support, children of divorce are poorer. Nor does the favorable treatment apply to lump‐sum payments, making this option less generous, even though many states have phased down the grant of alimony. Because the definition of alimony requires that it end with the payee's death—to protect the treatment provided for lump sums—the tax system is on the wrong side of the issue of violence against ex‐spouses (typically the ex‐wife). The article proposes extending to other similar payments the favorable tax treatment now provided for alimony.     

Is the power of a state to impose sales tax in Nigeria fettered by the imposition of value added tax by the federal government?

The imposition of sales tax by some states in Nigeria has been resisted on the grounds either that a state lacks the power to impose taxes under Nigeria’s constitution or that a state cannot validly impose sales tax as long as the Value Added Tax Act, a federal law, remains in force, the Value Added Tax Act having ‘covered the field’. This article contends that none of these grounds is valid under Nigeria’s constitution: a state government can impose sales tax in exercise of its residual powers; and the doctrine of covering the field is inapplicable in the inquiry.     

Sectoral Opposition to Carbon Taxes in the EU – a Myopic Economic Approach

Over 10 years ago the EU Commission proposed a directive on carbon taxes, but faced so much domestic resistance that agreement was not reached until last year – and after it had been considerably watered down. The aim of this paper is to look into economic reasons for the political infeasibility of extensive carbon taxes. Since opposition is believed to arise prior to the policy implementation, the cost estimates have a myopic character compared with market estimates, in the sense that sectors are presumed to take into account their own substitution opportunities, but disregard changes in other sectors as well as the macroeconomic welfare gains from a tax regime. With this myopic approach, we estimate and compare costs of emissions cuts across sectors and across countries in the EU, showing how different sectors might have anticipated the impacts from an expected carbon tax. This focus illustrates that what seems to be cost-effective and to the best for the region on paper turned out too controversial to be politically feasible.     

On the Superiority of Corrective Taxes to Quantity Regulation

The traditional view of economists has been that correctivetaxes are superior to direct regulation of harmful externalitieswhen the state's information about control costs is incomplete.In recent years, however, many economists seem to have adopteda different view—that either corrective taxes or quantityregulation could be superior to the other. We emphasize thatone argument for this newer view, identified with Weitzman (1974),holds only if the state is constrained to use a fixed tax rate(a linear tax schedule) even when harm is nonlinear. But if—asseems more plausible—the state can impose a nonlineartax equal to the schedule of harm or can adjust the tax rateupon learning that it diverges from marginal harm, then correctivetaxes are superior to quantity regulation. Another argumentfavoring quantity regulation is that it gains appeal when thestate is uncertain about the harm caused by an externality.In this case, however, a corrective tax schedule (equal to theexpected harm schedule) is superior to quantity regulation.     

敦煌归义军赋税制的特点

敦煌归义军政权实行据地出税的政策,其地税主要包括地子、官布、税草和税柴。由于归义军实行请田制度,不仅赋税的征收完全以土地为据,就是部分差科的征发,也以土地为据。赋税主要以乡为单位征收,具体则由“某头”负责。归义军政权的赋税制度既与中原王朝的制度有一致性,也有自己的创造和变通,但在发展趋势上却与中原王朝相一致,由此可以从一个侧面认识唐后期五代宋初经济制度的演变。     

完善我国环境税法律制度的思考

目前,环境与发展的矛盾成为制约各国可持续发展的“瓶颈”。因此,开征环境税,建立和完善环境税法律制度是我国改善环境治理现状的必然选择。汲取西方发达国家环境税法律制度的宝贵经验,结合中国本土实际,应从妥善协调环境税费关系、改革目前有关税种、开征专项环境税、采用合适的税式支出方式、改进环境税收优惠政策等方面进行研究和探索。