I. Policy of China's tax law on charity at the present stage
According to the current tax law of China, taxpayers of enterprise income tax are allowed to make donations for public welfare and relief, and the portion within 3% of the annual taxable income is exempted. Donations made by individuals to charitable organizations that do not exceed 3% of the taxable amount may be exempted.
II. Charitable donations in China at this stage
According to reports, nearly 6 million victims in China need relief every year, more than 22 million urban low-income people enjoy subsistence allowances, and more than 75 million rural absolutely poor and low-income people need relief. In addition, 6 million disabled people and 14 million elderly people over the age of 6 need social help. In order to protect the basic rights and interests of these difficult groups and special groups, it is far from enough to rely solely on the efforts of the government. There is an old saying in China, which is called' * * * to do good deeds', that is to say, good deeds are to be done by everyone together. To solve the problem of China, we cannot rely solely on the government. So charitable organizations came into being.
China's modern philanthropy has experienced a difficult start and a slow development since the late 198s, and it didn't change significantly until the mid-199s. At present, China's philanthropy is growing in recovery. Civil affairs departments have registered 289, non-governmental organizations and 1,16 foundations. Among these non-governmental organizations, there are 731 charitable associations in china charity federation and at all levels, and more than 7, Red Cross organizations are engaged in humanitarian relief such as saving lives. Social donation stations have developed rapidly from scratch, from less to more. At present, 32, social donation receiving stations have been established nationwide, initially forming a social donation service network.
According to the statistics of china charity federation, the largest charity organization in China, 7% of the donations they received came from abroad, Hong Kong and Taiwan, and the donations of domestic rich people accounted for less than 15%. Compared with the United States, China donated 75% fewer citizens. From this, we can see that the gap between us and the United States in charity is not only in corporate donations. And this needs to improve the self-construction of charitable organizations, so that charitable organizations can gain the trust of the public.
Third, the reasons why domestic corporate millionaires don't actively participate in charitable donations
Some time ago, a charity survey showed that there were more than 1 million enterprises registered in industrial and commercial registration, but no more than 1, had a donation record, which meant that 99% of enterprises had never participated in donations. This survey made the public put the hat of "lack of responsibility" on China enterprises. This makes many companies feel "too wronged".
most enterprises think that the tax exemption policy of only 3% donation in domestic tax law will lead to the situation that the more donations, the more taxes will be paid, so they think that this is actually not advocating their donation. The current tax policy not only can't bring much tax relief to enterprises, but also pays corresponding taxes and fees for donations beyond the limit, which affects the enthusiasm of enterprises to donate. The more donations, the more taxes you pay, which is unbearable for profit-oriented enterprises. It's not that enterprises don't want to do good things, but sometimes they do good things without good results. For today's non-governmental charitable organizations, they face almost the same problems as private enterprises in their growth: they lack credibility among the people and it is difficult to get financial support; Being in an unequal position in taxation policy; It is difficult to register, and it is forced to be affiliated with the "collective" or "state".
there are also many discussions in society about the problem that domestic enterprises do not actively participate in public welfare undertakings. For example, from a big perspective, the overall level of China's economy is still not high, private enterprises are still developing, and the funds available for charity are already relatively small; China's pre-tax relief system for charitable donations is not perfect. The current tax policy does not encourage entrepreneurs to donate. The more money they donate, the more extra taxes they pay, which inhibits the enthusiasm of the rich. At present, charitable organizations are basically extensions of government departments, and the strong government color will dampen people's enthusiasm to some extent, because no one will like "pressure donation" and so on. From a small point of view, some rich people do not get rich through legal channels, fearing that donations will attract the attention of the society to their sources of wealth and cause trouble; What's more, Chinese people have a weak sense of charity. Rich people would rather spend a lot of money to buy luxury cars and villas than spend a dollar to help the poor who have no livelihood.
In addition, it should be noted that the current situation of philanthropy in China is also related to the concern of the rich that donations may lead to "revealing wealth", which may lead to negative comments from the outside world, and even bring some threats or dangers to themselves. In recent years, there have been many discussions about the wealthy class and their wealth in China, among which there are two very popular keywords, one is "original sin" and the other is "hating the rich". The so-called "original sin" means that some private entrepreneurs have either "the first bucket of gold" or participated in the operation of national resources through some gray means, and accumulated staggering amounts of wealth in a short period of time.
In the eyes of "haters of the rich", the wealth of the vast majority of the rich is obtained unjustly. Under the metaphor of this social and cultural psychology, a rich man who gives generously to charity may be easily understood as having an ulterior shortcut to making money, and his money is too easy to come by, so even if he donates more, he is not sorry at all. Another more extreme understanding will think that the donation of charity by the rich is just a cover, and the real purpose is just to "launder money". No matter whether the concept of "original sin" is established or not, and whether the psychology of "hating the rich" is appropriate or not, it constitutes a realistic constraint for the wealthy class to invest in charity.
Fourth, the gap between Chinese and American philanthropy and the enlightenment of American philanthropy to China
Domestic media and scholars like to quote the following set of data: 5% of the population over 13 years old volunteer for an average of 4 hours a week; 75% of Americans donate money to charity, with an average annual income of more than $1, per family. Judging from the proportion of volunteers in the total population and the scale of charitable donations, the United States is undoubtedly a unique charity country in the world.
Charity in China is still in its infancy. A study in 22 showed that China's per capita donation was only .92 yuan, accounting for more than one billion yuan, accounting for about one tenth of the GDP of that year. Compared with the United States, the per capita donation of the United States in 23 was $828.7, accounting for 2.19% of the GDP of that year. The difference between Chinese and American per capita charitable donations is more than 73 times. Although the national conditions are different, China's contribution share is very small, which deserves our deep consideration.
In fact, charity is by no means the right of the rich. Compared with the United States, the number of citizens donated by our country is 75% less, from which we can see that the gap between us and the United States in charity is not only in corporate donations. And this needs to improve the self-construction of charitable organizations, so that charitable organizations can gain the trust of the public.
Tang Min, chief economist of the China representative office of the Asian Development Bank, said that the total funds held by existing charitable organizations in China only account for .1% of GDP, while the number of people engaged in charitable and social welfare undertakings in the United States accounts for 1% of the total employed population. Relatively speaking, it is much easier for American charities to raise funds. The tax code promulgated by the United States in 1986 stipulates that public welfare organizations can be exempted from income tax.
the development of modern philanthropy in the United States is inseparable from the construction of the system. American charity sector is particularly eye-catching for its vitality, diversity, economic strength and growth rate. An important factor affecting the development of charity industry is that the United States has a favorable legal environment for the development of charity sector. The trinity of legal system, system and mechanism is the guarantee for American philanthropy to step by step into a mature institutional environment.
First of all, the perfect inheritance tax and charitable fund management system stimulate the development of American philanthropy. On the one hand, the inheritance tax and gift tax in the United States are famous for their high and progressive amounts. When the inheritance is over $3 million, the tax rate is as high as 55%, and the beneficiaries of the inheritance must pay the inheritance tax first before inheriting the inheritance, so the descendants of the rich will encounter many obstacles in inheriting the inheritance. On the other hand, establishing a foundation or donating money can get tax relief, and how much money is donated can be deducted from the income tax accordingly. Making charitable donations can not only reduce losses, but also help to establish a public image and produce exemplary effects. In addition, the state also has a large number of tax exemption and tax reduction concessions for the operation of foundations, so that charitable foundations can obtain high returns that other enterprises can't match. Most charitable organizations are not only tax-free, that is, they do not need to pay taxes, but also the donations received by such organizations enjoy the treatment of tax deduction according to the limits stipulated by law. These tax treatments specifically include tax exemption, income tax exemption and donation tax reduction.
Secondly, the combination of incentives and constraints ensures the standardized operation of charitable organizations. Once a charitable organization is established, it is necessary to constantly raise donations, and managers must ensure that the funds raised can preserve and increase value, so the use of funds is a profound knowledge. Many charitable organizations not only carry out charitable fund-raising activities and fund-raising publicity, but also engage in two types of for-profit investments to ensure the preservation and appreciation of the funds raised. The supervision of charitable organizations in the United States can be divided into four levels. The first level is government legislation and supervision. The second level is the supervision of non-governmental professional evaluation institutions. The third level is the supervision of the media and people who care about charity. The fourth level is the internal supervision of charitable organizations.
In line with the evolution of market economy, the development of American philanthropy has experienced a long and tortuous history and accumulated a lot of experience. All these are undoubtedly of great enlightening significance to the development of philanthropy in contemporary China.
In p>1994, china charity federation, the first comprehensive charity organization in China, was established in Beijing. Subsequently, charitable organizations in various places developed rapidly and became a force that cannot be ignored in China's non-governmental organizations. At the same time, the construction of policies and legal systems around charity has been gradually carried out. Charity in China is on the track of legalization. However, overall, especially in terms of relatively mature market economy conditions, the development of philanthropy in China is still in the primary stage. This is mainly reflected in the following aspects: the scale and activity ability of charitable organizations and institutions are inherently insufficient; The legal system, social support, cultural background and economic foundation necessary for the development of charity are relatively unsound; The great advantages of charity in obtaining resources, helping the poor and caring for humanity have not been fully exerted.
It is undoubtedly necessary to learn from foreign beneficial experiences, carry forward China's excellent cultural traditions, speed up the reform of management system, activate the innovative ability of charitable organizations in China, further improve the legal system and tax environment conducive to the development of charity in China, and gradually form a "localized" charity relief model in China and a development path of charity in line with China's national conditions. Experts suggest that work should be carried out from the following three aspects:
(1) Carry forward China's cultural traditions and cultivate modern charity ideas.
(2) Optimize the incentive mechanism and accelerate the accumulation of charitable resources. According to foreign experience, the tax system is an important lever to encourage citizens to actively participate in charity activities and promote the development of charity. From the government's point of view, one of the key factors to create a favorable development environment for non-profit social service organizations and fund organizations is to create a well-run social management system and tax system that will infiltrate appropriate incentives for charitable donations; For charitable organizations, it is necessary to effectively utilize, develop and allocate folk charitable resources through institutional and mechanism innovation, so as to make the "cake" of charity bigger.
(3) it is to establish and improve the social restraint mechanism that integrates self-discipline, mutual law and heteronomy. Perfecting the legal system and moral environment is the basic guarantee to promote the healthy development of charity. From the experience of foreign countries, China needs to establish a system of qualification evaluation and credit qualification certification of charitable organizations as soon as possible, strengthen social supervision, further standardize charitable behavior, and gradually establish a convention in the interaction process of participants in charitable activities. It is necessary to strengthen the moral construction of honesty, improve the internal management and supervision system of charitable organizations, cultivate the social credibility of charitable organizations, improve the moral quality of employees, and then enhance the appeal of charity to the public.
From the experience of developed countries, the government gives generous tax-free treatment to charitable donations of enterprises and individuals, and gives necessary financial subsidies to relevant charitable organizations or institutions. At the same time, it imposes excessive progressive taxes on personal income or inheritance, guiding the rich to choose the latter between "about half of the property is taxed" and "donating charity to leave a good name". According to the current tax law of China, corporate income tax payers who donate for public welfare and relief are allowed to be exempted from the part within 3% of the annual tax income. Donations made by individuals to charitable organizations that do not exceed 3% of the taxable amount can be exempted. This is actually "the more donations, the more taxes will be paid", which is a disguised "blow" to corporate donations. As for the tedious process of applying for tax refund, vivid and helpless cases abound. At the same time, the lack of transparency in the operation of China charity industry, the urgent need to improve the management level and credibility, has also affected the enthusiasm of enterprises and individuals to donate.