Would a Flat Tax Be More Fair? - YouTube

美国革命一开始是一场反征税运动 The American Revolution started as a tax revolt

反对茶叶税！ – over a single tax on tea!

现在看看我们 Now look at us.

似乎我们做的每件事都要交税 It seems like everything we do is taxed.

这些税收背后隐藏的体系是官僚主义怪物；经济的重负 The system behind these taxes is a bureaucratic monstrosity; a dead weight on the economy.

它侵蚀了我们对向我们征税的政府的信任 And it erodes our trust in the government that's taxing us.

如果你有足够的律师和说客任你差遣和有漏洞可钻 If you have enough lawyers, lobbyists, and loopholes at your disposal

也许你可以玩弄这个体系 maybe you can game the system.

这对大公司和富人而言没什么所谓 That's fine for big corporations and wealthy individuals,

但对小企业主或中产阶级纳税人而言呢？ but what about the small business owner or the middle class taxpayer?

他只能闭嘴并买单 He just has to shut up and pay up.

没有什么比《联邦所得税法》——所有税收之母 Nothing better illustrates the disaster that our tax system has become than the mother of all taxes:

更能解释我们的税收体系已经变成了一场灾难 the federal income tax code.

仅这一种税 加上附加的细则和释义 This tax alone, with all its attendant rulings and interpretations,

篇幅估计就大约 1000 万字——而且还在不断增加！ is estimated to be about 10 million words – and rising!

几年前 《金钱》杂志假想了一个家庭的财务状况 Several years ago, Money magazine took a hypothetical family's finances

并将数据交给 46 位报税员 and gave the numbers to 46 tax preparers.

交回了 46 个不同的估税方案 Forty-six different estimates came back.

在一些方案中 该家庭应缴税额的差别高达数千美金 In some cases those differences ran into the thousands of dollars of what the family owed.

这一结果出自被认为是业界最佳的专家们 This from experts who are considered to be the best in the business.

但税收本身只是这个有毒税法的成本之一 But the taxes themselves are only part of the cost of this toxic code.

另外还有合规成本 There's also the cost of compliance

美国人准备纳税花费的时间、金钱和精力 – the time, money and effort it takes Americans to prepare their taxes.

乔治·梅森大学的一项研究认为 A George Mason University study

每年的合规成本高达 3,780 亿美元 puts the annual cost of compliance as high as $378 billion

而每年的总经济成本（包括工作时间） and the total annual economic cost (including work hours)

超过 6,000 亿美元 at more than $600 billion.

重申一次 这些是年度成本——即每年都有！ Again, these are annual costs – as in every year!

这是一大笔钱 它们本可用在更有成效的方面 That's a lot of money that could be used in more productive ways

创造新产品、新服务、新医疗设备、新的疾病治疗方案 new services, new medical devices, new cures for diseases.

显然 是时候在这个税收巨兽的心脏上插一刀了 Clearly, the time has come to drive a stake through the heart of this tax monster.

那么 应该做什么呢？ So, what should be done?

就像大多数事情一样 最简单的解决方案是最好的： Like most things, the best solution is the most simple:

没有减免的单一税 A single flat tax with no deductions,

除了每个成人和孩子的税收抵免 except for a deduction for each adult and for each child.

填一张表或者在电脑上输入一些数字 这样就完成了 Fill out a sheet of paper or key in a few numbers on your computer, and you're done.

这一改变不仅会让每个公民的生活更轻松 This one change would not only make every citizen's life easier,

还会改变政府、我们的经济和我们的社会 it would also transform government, our economy, and our society

结束那些给官僚和政客们带来如此多权力的繁文缛节 by ending the complexity that gives bureaucrats and politicians so much power.

他们有权力 因为他们是发放税收优惠的人 They have power because they're the ones who dole out the tax favors.

情况并非一直如此 It wasn't always this way.

曾经有一段时间 企业主要游说华盛顿 There was a time when corporations primarily lobbied Washington

让政府别插手它们的生意 to keep government out of their businesses.

这已经改变 That has changed.

如《大西洋月刊》所述 In the words of The Atlantic,

「商业游说从一种零星的被动力量 “The evolution of business lobbying from a sparse reactive force

演变成一种无处不在、越来越主动的力量 into a ubiquitous and increasingly proactive one

是过去 40 年美国政治最重要的转变之一」 is among the most important transformations in American politics over the last 40 years.”

这种优惠寻求的核心是获取特殊待遇和税收减免 This favor-seeking is centered on getting special treatment and tax breaks.

单一税将帮助我们开始缩减 A flat tax will help us begin to scale back

我们无不抱怨的那爱好特殊利益的、裙带资本主义的大政府 that special interest-loving, crony-capitalist big government that we all complain about.

每个人都将付出更少——不仅在税收方面 也在合规方面 Everyone would pay less—not only in taxes, but also in compliance.

投资和就业创造将一路飙升 Investment and job creation would skyrocket.

我们将经历一场经济复苏 这将扩大税基 We'd experience a recovery that would grow the tax base

最讽刺的是 最终为政府创造更多税入 and—irony of ironies—ultimately generate more revenue for government.

我在我的 Reviving America 一书中对此做了更详细的阐述 I go into this in much greater detail in my book, Reviving America,

从本质上而言 它是这样运作的 but here, in essence, is how it works.

每个人——个人和公司——支付 17% 的统一税率 Everyone—individuals and corporations—pays a 17 percent flat rate.

这个单一税率绝对关键 This single rate is absolutely critical.

每当我们有两种或更多的税率时 Whenever we have two or more tax rates,

它们就像兔子：它们繁殖 they're like rabbits: they breed.

我们从 1986 年税法改革中明白了这一点 当时只包含两种税率 We saw that with the 1986 tax reforms, which consisted of two rates.

它们增加到今天的 7 种税率 They've since multiplied into the seven we have today.

你可能会说 这听起来对富人很好 甚至对中产阶级也是 Well, you might argue, this sounds great for the rich, and even the middle class,

但对于穷人而言呢？ but what about the poor?

17% 的税率是一个很大的负担 Seventeen percent is a big burden.

这就是为什么 在这个计划下 That's why, under this plan,

年收入低于 52,800 美元的四口之家不用缴纳所得税 a family of four who makes less than $52,800 would pay no income tax.

这是目前联邦贫困标准的两倍 That's double the current federal poverty level.

这将让低收入人群保留更多的钱 This will let people at low income levels keep more of their money.

对那些认为富人应该交更多税的人 他们会的 And for those who think the rich should pay more, they will.

在 1981 年罗纳德·里根总统推动国会通过减税法案之前 Prior to the passage of the tax cuts that President Ronald Reagan pushed through Congress in 1981,

美国收入最高的 1% 人群贡献了 the top one percent of American earners accounted for

近 18% 的联邦个人所得税收入 nearly 18 percent of federal personal income tax revenue.

到 1988 年 同一人群贡献了近 28% By 1988, that same group accounted for nearly 28 percent,

仅 7 年内就增长了 10 个百分点 an increase of 10 percentage points in only 7 years.

通过消除税收漏洞并要求每个人缴纳公平的份额 By eliminating loopholes and requiring everyone to pay their fair share,

单一税制提供了一种税收公平的模范 the flat tax offers a model of tax fairness.

超过 40 个国家和地区实行了单一税制 More than 40 countries and jurisdictions have enacted the flat tax.

当考虑到所有事实 When all the facts are considered,

真正的问题不是美国是否应该实施这一重要改革 the real question is not whether America should implement this vital reform,

而是我们还在等什么? but what are we waiting for?

是时候进行另一场税收革命了 It's time for another tax revolution.

我是斯蒂芬·福布斯 为 PragerU 制作 I'm Steve Forbes for Prager University.