The end of the year is always a time for reckoning, and taxes are no exception.

In 2011, “tax reduction” became the tax keyword throughout the year.

Adjustments to personal income tax, replacement of business tax with value-added tax, pilot reform of real estate tax, reform of resource tax and fine-tuning of vehicle and vessel tax. Every change in “tax matters” attracts great attention from all walks of life and is reported by the media.

If you look closely, these tax system changes all reveal the intention of “tax reduction”.

However, national tax revenue growth is still significantly higher than GDP growth.

Why do the more taxes are cut, the more taxes are collected?

Without major adjustments to indirect taxes, the actual tax reduction effect will be difficult to show.

People are most concerned about direct taxes represented by personal income tax.

These taxes taken directly from everyone's pockets are the deepest and most painful thing for people.

However, the proportion of direct taxes in my country's current 19 categories of tax revenue is not high.

Taking personal income tax as an example, it accounted for only 6.6% of total tax revenue in 2010.

Most of the country's tax revenue mainly comes from indirect taxes represented by value-added tax. In 2010, indirect taxes accounted for 56.7% of total tax revenue.

Although indirect taxes do not reach out directly to the people, all goods and services are tax-free, and the tax rates are not low.

This undifferentiated taxation feature (taxes will be accounted as long as the goods are transferred) and the relatively high tax rate design (the general VAT rate is 17%) have actually increased my country's macro tax burden.

For example, the edible oil that everyone buys every day, from raw materials, to oil extraction, to packaging and over-the-counter sales, each step will be taxed based on the price. The final selling price includes value-added tax, business tax, and consumption tax.

etc.

As long as you buy cooking oil, the tax burden you bear will be the same, no matter what your income level is. This is an indiscriminate taxation of indirect taxes.

Similarly, in countries where direct taxes are the mainstay, the tax included on goods is relatively low, because most of the government taxes are collected directly from the income link. Higher income levels pay more taxes, and lower income levels pay less taxes.

In this way, we can better achieve the goal of allowing groups with high incomes to pay more taxes and those with low incomes to have less tax burdens.

However, the direct tax system is more complex and difficult than the indirect tax system, both in terms of system design and collection management.

Moving from an indirect tax system to a direct tax system requires preparation in many aspects.

For example, my country's personal income tax reform and property tax reform pilot this year have encountered many problems that need to be further solved.

However, the reform direction of my country's tax system towards direct taxation will not change.

Macro tax burden indicators are difficult to fully reflect the severity of the tax burden.

The ratio of tax revenue to GDP has been a key indicator for measuring the severity of the tax burden for many years.

In November 2011, a spokesman for the Ministry of Finance said, “According to the International Monetary Fund’s calculations, my country’s macro tax burden was 26.4% in 2010 and 25.3% in 2009. In 2009, the average level of all countries in the world was 36.4%, among which developed countries The national average is 40.8%, and the average for developing countries is 32.9%. "The problem is that tax revenue is a real number, every payment is documented, and every penny is accounted for, but GDP only has statistical accounting results.

Regardless of whether GDP is overestimated or underestimated, if we compare the actual amount with the statistical calculation value, the accuracy of the ratio is questionable, and it will be difficult to reflect everyone's feelings about the tax burden.

In fact, the "pain of tax burden" felt by ordinary people also comes from the superposition of other forms of government revenue such as government funds and administrative fees.

The Three Gorges Project construction fund included in each kilowatt hour of electricity, the sewage treatment fee included in each ton of water, the vegetable basket project fund included in each market stall fee, etc. These expenditures are reflected in daily life. Each transaction may not be much, but when accumulated

The pressure will still be felt.

A comprehensive feeling of tax burden should be a comprehensive result.

The existing national economic structure has the effect of increasing tax revenue.

The “tax cuts” in 2011 focused on direct taxes and some indirect taxes.

Measures to reduce taxes on the manufacturing industry, which contributes the largest tax revenue, have not been launched.

The experience of various countries around the world has proven that industrialization will inevitably bring about rapid growth in tax revenue, and manufacturing is the main contributor to tax revenue.

China is currently at this stage.

Judging from the statistical data over the years, whether it is value-added tax, business tax or corporate income tax, there is a strong preference for production, relying heavily on manufacturing to pay taxes.

In other words, as long as our country has not completed the process of industrialization, and as long as the tax structure is biased towards the collection of industrial enterprises, tax revenue will continue to grow.

From the perspective of economic opening up, Made in China has gradually become a symbol. Behind this symbol is the gathering of global production in China.

Whether it is the production of goods or trade in services, if you go around China, all products with the mark of Made in China will become taxable.

The annual import and export trade activities worth several trillion dollars include firstly tariffs, and secondly value-added taxes on imports and exports. These taxes are also directly included in the total tax revenue, becoming the driving force for the increase in tax revenue.

In addition, the actual level of inflation has a significant effect on increasing tax revenue.

Now, everyone finally knows the limitations of CPI as a measure of inflation, that is, it cannot fully reflect changes in prices in the entire market.

House prices, energy prices, service prices, etc. do not have a high proportion in CPI calculations, but they have experienced the largest price increases over the years.

There is a reason for the rapid growth of tax revenue under a stable CPI index.