2014年经济学人 印度税制改革 如鲠在喉

Tax reform in India

The truck stops here

A fix for India's indirect-tax system is overdue¹ but it may fall short of the ideal

TRADE negotiators were dismayed when in July India scuppered a chance to make modest progress on a global trade deal. Perhaps they hoped for too much. For years India has failed to sign a free-trade agreement even with itself. A recent report from the World Bank said bureaucracy related to tax-collection at state borders is a big reason why India's long-distance truckers are parked 60% of the time. A proposal to address this by rationalising the myriad² state and central-government levies³ into a harmonised goods-and-service tax, or GST, has been around since at least 2007. But grubby politics has put paid to the idea—until now.

The resounding⁴ win by the Bharatiya Janata Party in India's elections in May has altered the political landscape. The GST is likely to be the centrepiece of the new government's agenda for parliament when it reopens on November 24th. The main opposition⁵ party has said it will support it. A well-designed GST would make India a true common market, give a lift to manufacturing and limit the scope for corruption—the sort of big-bang reform the new prime minister, Narendra Modi, promises.

The present mess is rooted in the division of fiscal⁶ power in India's constitution, says Indira Rajaraman, an economist⁷. To ensure balance the central government was granted the right to tax the production of goods; the states could tax their consumption. The drafters ignored services but as they became more important to the economy, their taxation⁸ became the preserve of the centre. From the outset India has suffered the problem of “cascades” of tax on tax. The centre slaps an excise⁹ at the factory gate; the states compound that with a tax at the point of sale.

The problem has become bigger as new levies have proliferated¹⁰. The centre imposes a tax on goods that are sold across state borders. States collect taxes on entertainment and betting. There are separate levies on transport, electricity and cars. Rates vary from state to state, adding to the complexity¹¹. This creates a big burden on businesses that sell across borders. It is in part why India's manufacturing has a small share of GDP compared with other emerging markets, says Vijay Kelkar, a former chairman of the finance commission, which mediates¹² between the centre and states on tax issues.

How should the mess be cleared up? An ideal tax system would have three elements: it should be progressive, with the better-off shouldering more of the burden; it should not influence choices over what to produce or consume; and it should be simple. Mr Kelkar's commission sketched¹³ out a GST that conforms to these principles. It would be levied¹⁴ at a uniform rate on all sales, including of property and financial services, with exceptions only for unprocessed food, schooling¹⁵, health care and some public services. A sin-tax surcharge to the main GST rate would apply to petrol, tobacco and alcohol. With a broad tax base the GST rate could be as low as 12%—5% for the centre and 7% for the states. The properties of a value-added tax would apply so that taxes on inputs¹⁶ could be claimed back.

The government must secure the agreement of India's 29 states to the reform. If there is to be a common rate, the states must give up their much-prized power over taxes. Many fret¹⁷ about the possibility of lost income. Indirect taxes are 45% of the centre's tax-take but 80% of state revenue, says Morgan Stanley, a bank. There are already worrying signs that, to placate¹⁸ the states, the GST in its final form will deviate¹⁹ from the ideal. The exclusion²⁰ of land sales would raise the rate by 2-3 percentage points, reckons Satya Poddar of EY, a consultancy. Alcohol may also be out and petrol may be given a special status. But the more exemptions²¹ there are, the more the GST will resemble what it is supposed to replace. At issue is whether, as Mr Poddar puts it, the GST will be a game-changer or merely a name-changer?

1 overdue   

adj.过期的，到期未付的；早该有的，迟到的

参考例句：

• The plane is overdue and has been delayed by the bad weather.飞机晚点了，被坏天气耽搁了。
• The landlady is angry because the rent is overdue.女房东生气了，因为房租过期未付。

2 myriad   

adj.无数的；n.无数，极大数量

参考例句：

• They offered no solution for all our myriad problems.对于我们数不清的问题他们束手无策。
• I had three weeks to make a myriad of arrangements.我花了三个星期做大量准备工作。

3 levies   

（部队）征兵( levy的名词复数 )； 募捐； 被征募的军队

参考例句：

• At that time, taxes and levies were as many as the hairs on an ox. 那时，苛捐杂税多如牛毛。
• Variable levies can insulate farmers and consumers from world markets. 差价进口税可以把农民和消费者与世界市场隔离开来。

4 resounding   

adj. 响亮的

参考例句：

• The astronaut was welcomed with joyous,resounding acclaim. 人们欢声雷动地迎接那位宇航员。
• He hit the water with a resounding slap. 他啪的一声拍了一下水。

5 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

6 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

7 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

8 taxation   

n.征税，税收，税金

参考例句：

• He made a number of simplifications in the taxation system.他在税制上作了一些简化。
• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。

9 excise   

n.(国产)货物税；vt.切除，删去

参考例句：

• I'll excise the patient's burnt areas.我去切除病人烧坏的部分。
• Jordan's free trade zone free of import duty,excise tax and all other taxes.约旦的自由贸易区免收进口税、国内货物税及其它一切税收。

10 proliferated   

激增( proliferate的过去式和过去分词 )； （迅速）繁殖； 增生； 扩散

参考例句：

• Books and articles on the subject have proliferated over the last year. 过去一年以来，论及这一问题的书和文章大量涌现。
• Influenza proliferated throughout the country. 流感在全国蔓延。

11 complexity   

n.复杂(性)，复杂的事物

参考例句：

• Only now did he understand the full complexity of the problem.直到现在他才明白这一问题的全部复杂性。
• The complexity of the road map puzzled me.错综复杂的公路图把我搞糊涂了。

12 mediates   

调停，调解，斡旋( mediate的第三人称单数 )； 居间促成； 影响…的发生； 使…可能发生

参考例句：

• We therefore investigated whether hypercoagulability mediates a beneficial effect during denovo atherogenesis. 因此我们研究了高凝在原位动脉粥样硬化形成中是否介导了有益的作用。
• Not happy when the mood that how mediates oneself? 不开心的时候怎样调解自己的情绪？

13 sketched   

v.草拟（sketch的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The historical article sketched the major events of the decade. 这篇有关历史的文章概述了这十年中的重大事件。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He sketched the situation in a few vivid words. 他用几句生动的语言简述了局势。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

14 levied   

征（兵）( levy的过去式和过去分词 )； 索取； 发动（战争）； 征税

参考例句：

• Taxes should be levied more on the rich than on the poor. 向富人征收的税应该比穷人的多。
• Heavy fines were levied on motoring offenders. 违规驾车者会遭到重罚。

15 schooling   

n.教育；正规学校教育

参考例句：

• A child's access to schooling varies greatly from area to area.孩子获得学校教育的机会因地区不同而大相径庭。
• Backward children need a special kind of schooling.天赋差的孩子需要特殊的教育。

16 inputs   

n.输入( input的名词复数 )；投入；输入端；输入的数据v.把…输入电脑( input的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Uncheck the inputs checked for optimization in the previous stage. 不测试那些已经测试过的优化了的以前步骤的inputs.（变量参数）。 来自互联网
• Just in case, save in a file the inputs obtained at the previous stage. 以防万一，保存以前步骤获得的inputs（变量参数值）到一个文件中去。 来自互联网

17 fret   

v.(使)烦恼；(使)焦急；(使)腐蚀，(使)磨损

参考例句：

• Don't fret.We'll get there on time.别着急，我们能准时到那里。
• She'll fret herself to death one of these days.她总有一天会愁死的.

18 placate   

v.抚慰，平息(愤怒)

参考例句：

• He never attempts to placate his enemy.他从不企图与敌人和解。
• Even a written apology failed to placate the indignant hostess.甚至一纸书面道歉都没能安抚这个怒气冲冲的女主人。

19 deviate   

v.(from)背离，偏离

参考例句：

• Don't deviate from major issues.不要偏离主要问题。
• I will never deviate from what I believe to be right.我绝不背离我自信正确的道路。

20 exclusion   

n.拒绝，排除，排斥，远足，远途旅行

参考例句：

• Don't revise a few topics to the exclusion of all others.不要修改少数论题以致排除所有其他的。
• He plays golf to the exclusion of all other sports.他专打高尔夫球，其他运动一概不参加。

21 exemptions   

n.（义务等的）免除( exemption的名词复数 )；免（税）；（收入中的）免税额

参考例句：

• The exemptions for interpretive rules, policy statements, and procedural rules have just been discussed. 有关解释性规则、政策说明和程序规则的免责我们刚刚讨论过。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• A: The regulation outlines specific exemptions for some WPM. 答：该规定概述了某些木质包装材料的特定的例外情形。 来自互联网