valued added tax 增值税 外文翻译.docx

1、valued added tax 增值税 外文翻译Value added taxFrom Wikipedia，the free encyclopediAbstractA value added tax(VAT)is a form of consumption taxIt is a tax on the”value added”to a product or material，from an accounting view, at each stage of its manufacture or distributionThe”value added”to a product by a busi

2、ness is the sale price charged to its customer，minus the cost of materials and other taxable inputsA VAT is like a sales tax in that ultimately only the end consumer is taxedIt differs from the sales tax in that，with the latter，the tax is collected and remitted to the government only onceat the poin

3、t of purchase by the end consumerWith the VAT, collections，remittances to the government，and credits for taxes already paid occur each time a business in the supply chain purchases products from another business. The reason businesses end up paying no tax is that at the time they sell the product，th

4、ey receive a credit for all the tax they have paid to suppliersPersonal end-consumers of products and services cannot recover VAT on purchases，but businesses are able to recover VAT(input tax)on the products and services that they buy in order to produce further goods or services that will be sold t

5、o yet another business in the supply chain or directly to a final consumerIn this way, the total tax levied at each stage in the economic chain of supply is a constant fraction of the value added by a business to its products，and most of the cost of collecting the tax is borne by business，rather tha

6、n by the stateValue Added Taxes were introduced in part because they create stronger incentives to collect than a sales tax doesBoth types of consumption tax create an incentive by end consumers to avoid or evade the taxBut the sales tax offers the buyer a mechanism to avoid or evade the tax-persuad

7、e the seller that he is not really an end consumer，and therefore the seller is not legally required to collect itThe burden of determining whether the buyerS motivation is to consume or re-sell is on the sellerbut the seller has no direct economic incentive to the seller to collect itThe VAT approac

8、h gives sellers a direct financial stake in collecting the tax，and eliminates the problematic decision by the seller about whether the buyer is or is not an end consumerChapter I Comparison with a sales taxValue added tax(VAT)avoids the cascade effect of sales tax by taxing only the value added at e

9、ach stage of productionFor this reason，throughout the world，VAT has been gaining favor over traditional sales taxesIn principle，VAT applies to all provisions of goods and servicesVAT is assessed and collected on the value of goods or services that have been provided every time there is a transaction

10、 (sale/purchase). The seller charges VAT to the buyer, and the seller pays this VAT to the governmentIf however, the purchaser is not an end user，but the goods or services purchased are costs to its business, the tax it has paid for such purchases can be deducted from the tax it charges to its custo

11、mersThe government only receives the difference；in other words，it is paid tax on the gross margin of each transaction，by each participant in the sales chainSales tax is normally charged on end users(consumers)The VAT mechanism means that the enduser tax is the same as it would be with a sales taxThe

12、 main difference is the extra accounting required by those in the middle of the supply chain； this disadvantage of VAT is balanced by application of the same tax to each member of the production chain regardless of its position in it and the position of its customers, reducing the effort required to

13、 check and certify their statusWhen the VAT system has few, if any, exemptions such as with GST in New Zealand，payment of VAT is even simpler.A general economic idea is that if sales taxes exceed 1 0，people start engaging in widespread tax evading activity(1ike buying over the Internet，pretending to

14、 be a business，buying at wholesale，buying products through an employer etc. On the other handtotal VAT rates can rise above 1 0without widespread evasion because of the novel collection mechanismHowever，because of its particular mechanism of collection，VAT becomes quite easily the target of specific

15、 frauds like carousel fraud, which can be very expensive in terms of loss of tax incomes for states.1.1 Principle of VAT The standard way to implement a VAT involves assuming a business owes some percentage on the price of the product minus all taxes previously paid on the good. If VAT rates were 10

16、，an orange juice maker would pay 10of the5 per litre price (0.50)minus taxes previously paid by the orange farmer(maybe0.20)In this example，the orange juice maker would have a 0.30 tax liability. Each business has a strong incentive for its suppliers to pay their taxes，allowing VAT rates to be highe

17、r with less tax evasion than a retail sales taxBehind this simple principle are the variations in its implementations，as discussed in the next section1.2 Basis for VATsBy the method of collection. VAT can be accounts-based or invoice-based. Under the invoice method of collection, each seller charges

18、 VAT rate on his output and passes the buyer a special invoice that indicates the amount of tax charged. Buyers who are subject to VAT on their own sales(output tax)，consider the tax on the purchase invoices as input tax and can deduct the sum from their own VAT liability. The difference between out

19、put tax and input tax is paid to the government (or a refund is claimed，in the case of negative liability). Under the accounts based method，no such specific invoices are usedInstead，the tax is calculated on the value added, measured as a difference between revenues and allowable purchases. Most coun

20、tries today use the invoice method, the only exception being Japan, which uses the accounts method.Chapter II CriticismsThe “value-added tax” has been criticized as the burden of it relies on personal end-consumers of products. Some critics consider it to be a regressive tax, meaning the poor pay mo

21、re, as a percentage of their income, than the rich. Defenders argue that excising taxation through income is an arbitrary standard，and that the value-added tax is in fact a proportional tax in that people with higher income pay more at the same rate that they consume more. The effective progressiven

22、ess or regressiveness of a VAT system can also be affected when different classes of goods are taxed at different rates. To maintain the progressive nature of total taxes on individuals, countries implementing VAT have reduced income tax on lower income-earners, as well as instituted direct transfer

23、 payments to lower-income groups, resulting in lower tax burdens on the poor.Revenues from a value added tax are frequently lower than expected because they are difficult and costly to administer and collectIn many countries, however, where collection of personal income taxes and corporate profit ta

24、xes has been historically weak, VAT collection has been more successful than other types of taxes. VAT has become more important in many jurisdictions as tariff levels have fallen worldwide due to trade liberalization. as VAT has essentially replaced lost tariff revenues. Whether the costs and disto

25、rtions of value added taxes are lower than the economic inefficiencies and enforcement issues (e.g. smuggling) from high import tariffs is debated, but theory suggests value added taxes are far more efficient.Certain industries(smallscale services，for example)tend to have more VAT avoidance, particu

26、larly where cash transactions predominate，and VAT may be criticized for encouraging this. From the perspective of government, however, VAT may be preferable because it captures at least some of the value-added, For example, a carpenter may offer to provide services for cash (i.e. without a receipt,

27、and without VAT)to a homeowner, who usually cannot claim input VAT back. The homeowner will hence bear lower costs and the carpenter may be able to avoid other taxes (profit or payroll taxes). The government, however, may still receive VAT for various other inputs(1umber, paint, gasoline, tools, etc

28、.) sold to the carpenter，who would be unable to reclaim the VAT on these inputs (unless of course the carpenter also has at 1east some jobs done with receipt, and claims all purchased inputs to go to those jobs). While the total tax receipts may be lower compared to full compliance, it may not be lo

29、wer than under other feasible taxation systems.Chapter III VAT systems3.1 European UnionThe European Union Value Added Tax(EU VAT)is a value added tax encompassing member states in the European Union Value Added Tax Area. Joining in this is compulsory for member states of the European Union. As a co

30、nsumption tax, the EU VAT taxes the consumption of goods and services in the EU VAT area. The EU VATs key issue asks where the supply and consumption occurs thereby determining which member state will collect the VAT and which VAT rate will be charged.Each Member States national VAT legislation must

31、 comply with the provisions 0f EU VAT law as set out in Directive 2006/112/EC. This Directive sets out the basic framework for EU VAT, but does allow Member States some degree of flexibility in implementation of VAT legislation. For example different rates of VAT are allowed in different EU member s

32、tates. However Directive 2006/112requires Member states to have a minimum standard rate of VAT of 15and one or two reduced rates not to be below 5. Some Member States have a 0VAT rate on certain supplies-these Member States would have agreed this as part of their EU Accession Treaty(for example, new

33、spapers and certain magazines in Belgium). The current maximum rate in operation in the EU is 25, though member states are free to set higher rates.VAT that is charged by a business and paid by its customers is known as ”output VAT” (that is，VAT on its output supplies). VAT that is paid by a business to