Tax reform in India
印度税制改革
The truck stops here
如鲠在喉
A fix for Indias indirect-tax system is overdue butit may fall short of the ideal
由于印度未能及时对其间接税系统进行调整使得其未能达到理想状态
TRADE negotiators were dismayed when in July India scuppered a chance to make modestprogress on a global trade deal. Perhaps they hoped for too much. For years India has failed tosign a free-trade agreement even with itself. A recent report from the World Bank saidbureaucracy related to tax-collection at state borders is a big reason why Indias long-distance truckers are parked 60% of the time. A proposal to address this by rationalising themyriad state and central-government levies into a harmonised goods-and-service tax, or GST,has been around since at least 2007. But grubby politics has put paid to the ideauntil now.
7月，印度本可让不温不火的全球贸易谈判有所进展的，可他却让贸易代表们的愿望化成了泡影，对此代表们十分沮丧。长期以来，印度未能成功签署自由贸易协定，成为世贸一员。世界银行在最近的一期的报告中指出，邦界边官僚主义的税收机构拦住了60%的长途卡车司机进入各邦的道路。从2007年以来，无数国家的中央政府通过统一向应税的货物和劳务征收的消费税(GST)而解决了这个问题。但是由于政治黑暗，印度至今为止都未能成功解决该问题。
The resounding win by the Bharatiya Janata Party in Indias elections in May has altered thepolitical landscape. The GST is likely to be the centrepiece of the new governments agenda forparliament when it reopens on November 24th. The main opposition party has said it willsupport it. A well-designed GST would make India a true common market, give a lift tomanufacturing and limit the scope for corruptionthe sort of big-bang reform the new primeminister, Narendra Modi, promises.
今年5月份印度人民党(Bharatiya Janata Party )在大选中获得彻底的胜利可能对改变改政治格局带来了希望。在11月24日召开的新政府的议会议程时，消费税可能会作为核心税种重新开征。那些主要的反对派人员已表示将支持此决议。新总理纳伦德拉莫迪(Narendra Modi,)承诺，将设计一个机制完善的消费税使得印度市场成为一个真正的共同体，给制造业提供动力，减少政府干预，在全社会掀起一场爆炸式的改革。
The present mess is rooted in the division of fiscal power in Indias constitution, says IndiraRajaraman, an economist. To ensure balance the central government was granted the right totax the production of goods; the states could tax their consumption. The drafters ignoredservices but as they became more important to the economy, their taxation became thepreserve of the centre. From the outset India has suffered the problem of cascades of taxon tax. The centre slaps an excise at the factory gate; the states compound that with a tax atthe point of sale.
经济学家英迪拉拉(Indira Rajaraman)认为，目前的困境根源在于印度宪法中的财政权力部门的问题。为确保平衡中央政府获得生产产品的征税权利;邦政府也会对其消费征收一道税。起草人忽略服务这一项，但是一旦服务成为经济更重要的一部分,他们的税收成为保护重点。从一开始就印度遭受了瀑布式征管问题。中央政府在工厂门口征了一道消费税;邦政府就在销售环节计入价内在征收一次税。
The problem has become bigger as new levies have proliferated. The centre imposes a tax ongoods 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 complexity. This creates a big burden on businesses that sell across borders. Itis in part why Indias manufacturing has a small share of GDP compared with other emergingmarkets, says Vijay Kelkar, a former chairman of the finance commission, which mediatesbetween the centre and states on tax issues.
在新征收额激增的情况下，出现了更加棘手的问题。中央政府对跨邦的商品销售进行征税，而邦政府则对娱乐业和博彩业进行征税。而交通，电力以及汽车行业则单独出来分开征收。由于税率因邦而异，增加了征管难度。这就使得跨邦之间的商业交易困难重重。前印度财政部长的顾问维贾(Vijay Kelkar)博士表示，这也是印度的制造业占GDP的份额与其他新兴市场相比较低的原因之所在，中央政府与邦政府之间的税收问题并不协调。
How should the mess be cleared up? An ideal tax system would have three elements: it shouldbe progressive, with the better-off shouldering more of the burden; it should not influencechoices over what to produce or consume; and it should be simple. Mr Kelkars commissionsketched out a GST that conforms to these principles. It would be levied at a uniform rate onall sales, including of property and financial services, with exceptions only for unprocessedfood, schooling, health care and some public services. A sin-tax surcharge to the main GSTrate would apply to petrol, tobacco and alcohol. With a broad tax base the GST rate could beas low as 12%5% for the centre and 7% for the states. The properties of a value-added taxwould apply so that taxes on inputs could be claimed back.
如何清理这个烂摊子?理想的税收制度有三个要素:首先它应该是进步的,富人承担更多的负担税收纵向公平;它不应该影响生产或消费选择税收中性原则;它应该是简单地税收的效率原则。维贾博士和其委员会草拟了一份符合上述原则的消费税。除去未加工食品、教育、医疗保健和一些公共服务行业以外，包括房地产和金融服务在内所有行业实行统一税率。而对于汽油、烟草和酒精等税目将要额外加计征收。而消费税的基础税率为 12%， 其中中央政府占5，邦政府占有7%的份额。增值税的属性将适用与此，以便进口环节的税收也可以收回来了。
The government must secure the agreement of Indias 29 states to the reform. If there is tobe a common rate, the states must give up their much-prized power over taxes. Many fretabout the possibility of lost income. Indirect taxes are 45% of the centres tax-take but 80% ofstate revenue, says Morgan Stanley, a bank. There are already worrying signs that, to placatethe states, the GST in its final form will deviate from the ideal. The exclusion of land saleswould 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 exemptionsthere 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?
印度中央政府必须确保29个邦政府加入改革。是否有一个统一的税率，其前提是邦政府必须放弃他们手中牢牢掌握的税收权利。摩根士丹利(Morgan Stanley)表示，间接税的80%源于地方政府的收入，但是中央政府却要拿走45%的份额，许多地方政府认为地方收入将会减少。这种担心也是有道理的，为了安抚地方邦政府，消费税也许会偏离其最初的轨道。EY咨询公司的波达尔(Satya Poddar )认为，土地销售免税的话，地方收入将会增加2%-3%,酒精和汽油也可以有其他的税收优惠。但是额外的税收优惠越多将，消费税本身的特性就会越少越容易被替代。那么问题来了正如波达尔先生所认为的那样，消费税只是被改了个名字还是从内到外的改革换面呢?
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