时代周刊:疫情期间如何解决财政紧张问题(1)

Tax questions that rise as incomes fall

收入缩水税收反增问题

By Kevin Kelleher

文/凯文·凯莱赫

As unemployment reaches its highest level since the Great Depression,

如今，美国民众的失业率已经达到大萧条以来的最高水平，

millions of Americans have been left scrambling¹ to get by.

数以百万计的美国人只能勉强维持生计。

As of early April, almost a third of U.S. adults were unable to afford necessities like rent or food,

城市研究所的一项调查显示，截至4月初，美国便已有近1/3的成年人支付不起房租、食物等基本生活开销，

according to an Urban Institute survey; the crisis is bound to deepen.

从目前的形势来看，这场危机势必还会进一步加剧。

For many, financial survival could come down to desperate measures,

对许多人而言，维持开支已经意味着孤注一掷，

like dipping into retirement² savings³ or borrowing money from loved ones.

比如动用退休基金或向亲人借钱。

While it's not easy to think long term in emergencies,

尽管事出紧急时做长远打算的确不易，

financial experts say it's important to plan ahead even when taking drastic steps.

但金融专家表示，即便要采取激进措施，也很有必要做好提前规划。

“It's pretty easy for people to overlook tax considerations if they don't have the financial awareness⁴ around them,”

“如果没有财务意识，大家会很容易考虑不到税收方面的问题。”

says Chad Hamilton, a financial planner at wealth-management firm Brown and Co.

财富管理公司布朗公司的财务规划师查德·汉密尔顿说道。

Here are some options to consider when searching for emergency finances, along with important tax rules to know:

为此，本文在此为大家列举了一些寻求紧急财务出路时可供参考的选项以及大家需要了解的重要的税收规则：

UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS

失业救济金

More than 33 million Americans have filed for unemployment benefits over the past seven weeks.

过去七周，美国已有超3300万人申请失业救济金。

Those benefits have been expanded by the CARES Act,

《冠状病毒援助，救济和经济安全法案》（简称CARES法案）对原有救济金政策进行了补充，

which also included onetime stimulus⁵ payments for millions of taxpayers⁶.

还增加了对数百万纳税人实施一步到位的刺激支付政策。

However, unemployment (and severance⁷) benefits are typically considered taxable income.

然而，失业救济金(和遣散费)通常都属于应税收入。

So, says Hamilton, “don't just assume the income on your unemployment or severance payments are tax-free.”

所以，汉密尔顿说，“请不要想当然地认为你的失业补助或遣散费不用缴税。”

Instead, check with an accountant to avoid surprises come tax season.

大家应该做的是，与会计核对自己的账户资金，避免纳税季节出现意外。

(The stimulus payments won't be taxed.)

(刺激支付部分是不用纳税的。)

RETIREMENT ACCOUNTS AND OTHER ASSETS

退休账户及其他资产

Personal-finance experts have long considered the proverbial nest egg to be sacrosanct⁸.

长期以来，个人理财专家都认为众所周知的（养老）存款是坚决不能染指的。

In part, that's because early withdrawals⁹ from a tax-advantaged retirement account,

部分原因在于提前支取享受了税收优惠政策的退休账户，

like a 401(k) plan or an IRA, are heavily penalized¹⁰.

比如401(k)计划或个人退休帐户(IRA)，会面临高额罚金（注：10%）。

But the CARES Act temporarily waives¹¹ that penalty for people who claim hardship caused by COVID-19.

不过，CARES法案已经暂时免除了声称因为疫情生活已经难以为继的人群提前支取退休账户的罚金。

Withdrawals will still be taxed, but people will have three years to replenish¹² their withdrawn¹³ funds,

提前支取仍需纳税，但大家有三年的时间补上支取部分的资金，

and the tax can be paid ratably over three years.

税金也可分三年按比例缴纳。

1 scrambling   

v.快速爬行( scramble的现在分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• Scrambling up her hair, she darted out of the house. 她匆忙扎起头发，冲出房去。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• She is scrambling eggs. 她正在炒蛋。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

3 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

4 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

5 stimulus   

n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物

参考例句：

• Regard each failure as a stimulus to further efforts.把每次失利看成对进一步努力的激励。
• Light is a stimulus to growth in plants.光是促进植物生长的一个因素。

6 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

7 severance   

n.离职金；切断

参考例句：

• Those laid off received their regular checks,plus vacation and severance pay.那些被裁的人都收到他们应得的薪金，再加上假期和解职的酬金。Kirchofer was terminated,effective immediately--without severance or warning.科奇弗被解雇了，立刻生效--而且没有辞退费或者警告。

8 sacrosanct   

adj.神圣不可侵犯的

参考例句：

• In India,the cow is a sacrosanct animal.牛在印度是神圣的动物。
• Philip Glass is ignorant of establishing an immutable, sacrosanct urtext.菲利普·格拉斯不屑于创立不变的、神圣的原始文本。

9 withdrawals   

n.收回，取回，撤回( withdrawal的名词复数 )；撤退，撤走；收回[取回，撤回，撤退，撤走]的实例；推出（组织），提走（存款），戒除毒瘾，对说过的话收回，孤僻

参考例句：

• He has made several withdrawals from his bank account. 他从银行账户上提了几次款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It is not the bank's policy to deduct interest on withdrawals. 提款需扣除利息这并非是本银行的政策。 来自辞典例句

10 penalized   

对…予以惩罚( penalize的过去式和过去分词 )； 使处于不利地位

参考例句：

• You will be penalized for poor spelling. 你拼写不好将会受到处罚。
• Team members will be penalized for lateness. 队员迟到要受处罚。

11 waives   

v.宣布放弃( waive的第三人称单数 )；搁置；推迟；放弃（权利、要求等）

参考例句：

• The surety waives in writing the right provided in the preceding paragraph. （三）保证人以书面形式放弃前款规定的权利的。 来自互联网
• In exchange, the tribe waives claim to similar water rights on non federal and private lands. 作为交换，部落放弃非联邦河私人土地上的类似水权。 来自互联网

12 replenish   

vt.补充；(把…)装满；(再)填满

参考例句：

• I always replenish my food supply before it is depleted.我总是在我的食物吃完之前加以补充。
• We have to import an extra 4 million tons of wheat to replenish our reserves.我们不得不额外进口四百万吨小麦以补充我们的储备。

13 withdrawn   

vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出

参考例句：

• Our force has been withdrawn from the danger area.我们的军队已从危险地区撤出。
• All foreign troops should be withdrawn to their own countries.一切外国军队都应撤回本国去。