It is fairer to file personal tax with family

Chen Kaizhi, member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference of Guangdong Province, was a prominent figure at the recent National "Two Sessions". He proposed the "Proposal No. 7" of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference - the proposal to implement the method of reporting personal income tax on a household basis, which caused widespread discussion.

A real example written by Chen Kaizhi in the proposal is typical. Mr. Du works in a public institution in Guangzhou. His wife has not been able to find a job since she gave birth to a child three years ago. The couple are both only children, and the four elderly people have no pension now. In this way, he is the only one working in a family of seven.

According to the current declaration method, his monthly income is 6,500 yuan, and he has to pay tax of 610 yuan. Every time he receives a salary slip, Mr. Du is always unhappy when he sees the deducted income tax. "My single colleagues, they can buy a house, buy a car, and travel a lot, and my salary is barely enough to support my family, but we pay the same amount of taxes, do you think it's reasonable?"

This is what our country is currently suffering from Consequences of the controversial "one-size-fits-all" approach to IIT collection.

Actually, this is not the most unfair example. Chen Kaizhi also said that two couples have a total income of 3,000 yuan. One couple, the wife is unemployed, and the husband has a monthly income of 3,000 yuan. If the exemption amount of 1,600 yuan is deducted, the other 1,400 yuan will have to pay individual tax; The couple earns 1,500 yuan each, and neither of them has the income tax threshold, so they do not need to pay tax.

Two major drawbacks of the current IIT collection method

Chen Kaizhi fully assessed the disadvantages of the current IIT collection method in the proposal. First, the more single-income people have to pay more taxes, and the more tax-avoidance people with multiple incomes The second is that taxpayers with the same income have different burdens, such as the number of dependents and the employment situation of the able-bodied population, but the deductions for expenses are the same. Taxes are used to adjust social distribution, narrow the gap between the rich and the poor, and it is difficult to fully reflect the role of social equity. reflect.

According to this, Chen Kaizhi suggested that the personal income tax should adopt the method of "mainly reporting and paying by the family, supplemented by individuals"; in the tax collection system, Chen Kaizhi suggested that the "monthly collection" should be changed to "annual collection". Income, labor remuneration income, business income and other recurring income are included in the comprehensive tax item, and the excess progressive tax rate is adopted, which is calculated on an annual basis, prepaid monthly, and repaid at the end of the year.

Considering that the national individual income tax tax payment certificate issuance work has been implemented on a pilot basis in Beijing and Guangdong, Chen Kaizhi proposed whether it is possible to implement the individual income tax declaration and payment by households on the basis of "withholding and payment" combined with the pilot work of tax payment certificate issuance. Mainly, the method of declaration by one spouse.

As for the original intention of putting forward this proposal, Chen Kaizhi said that the purpose is to advocate "the rich pay more tax and the poor pay less"; in addition, he also wants to call for changes to the existing unreasonable collection methods through the proposal.

Chen Kaizhi calculated an account based on the example of Mr. Du above. According to the "family declaration", when he declares personal tax, he will deduct the living expenses of 6 dependents, dependents and the unemployed, at least a few Thousands of yuan, he will pay a lot less tax.

"Family tax declaration" is more fair

In fact, the method of collecting personal income tax on a family basis has been called for a long time in the society. When the country revised the "Individual Income Tax Law" last year, the "family declaration" method was once Aroused people's attention, this time member Chen Kaizhi "revisited the past", experts believe that he represents the members' attention to the "fairness" issue.

At present, many developed countries, including Hong Kong in my country, adopt the taxation method of "joint declaration of husband and wife" or "family declaration". This collection method is based on the basic deduction, and then determines other individual deductions based on the taxpayer's family size, support, support, employment, education, disability and other different circumstances. This is indeed fairer and more reasonable than the current "fixed deduction method" in our country.

Zang Tao, a master student from the Law School of Jilin University and an expert from the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Taxation, has done a lot of research on the improvement of my country's personal income tax law. my country's Individual Income Tax Law (hereinafter referred to as the "Reference" article), which not only has many suggestions on the tax rate and threshold of my country's individual income tax collection, but also has a special chapter on the issue of "family declaration".

Zang Tao explained that at present, countries in the world generally have three types of taxation units: individual-based, couple-based, and family-based. These three taxation units have their own advantages and disadvantages: The formation of a family as a tax unit takes into account their objective reality as a consumption unit in the society. Usually, their income is mixed or shared with each other. As a measuring unit of tax affordability, it takes into account their affordability to the family. , so it is more in line with the principle of substantial fairness of individual taxation. However, we should also see that using couples or families as tax units will result in tax discrimination against unmarried or single persons, and may also provide higher income earners in couples or families with greater opportunities for benefit choices in the system. In reality, it will also bring negative guidance and direction for women in the family to go to society. Taking into account the above factors, most countries in the world currently adopt the principle of compromise between the individual unit and the couple or family.

But generally speaking, the article "For Reference" still advocates the taxation model of "family declaration". "There is no essential difference between individual filing and joint filing from the perspective of earning income. Taxation of individuals from an efficiency perspective affects the individual's investment and labor decisions, and taxation of households has a broader impact. Because many Consumption, savings, and investment are carried out by households. From the perspective of fair income distribution, the disparity of personal income will ultimately be reflected in the income disparity of households, so the adjustment of income can be entirely focused on the adjustment of household income The most important point of this choice is that families with the same income can pay the same personal income tax to levy taxes according to their comprehensive ability, and certain social policies can be implemented as a family unit, such as relief for the elderly, Children with living ability use the method of increasing the basic deduction."

It is difficult to implement family tax at present

But why didn't China adopt this method when revising the "Individual Income Tax Law" last year? The main reason is: the collection of personal tax by family as a unit requires very high requirements for taxpayer information control. Currently, it is difficult for tax authorities to control this information. Before the full issuance of the new generation ID card, due to the "duplicate number" phenomenon in the ID card, it is difficult to establish a "tax identification number" system in Western countries, which makes it difficult to implement this collection method.

Jie Ye, deputy to the National People's Congress and director of the Zhanjiang Local Taxation Bureau, believes that now we cannot adopt the form of paying taxes on a family basis, because the accounting of personal income in my country is not clear, and individuals do not Enterprises have relatively clear accounts, and we do not yet have a relatively scientific and complete accounting system. In addition, the integrity of citizens is far from the level of honest reporting of income. It is difficult to know exactly how much an individual's income is. The overall living standard of Chinese citizens is still relatively low, and the relevant calculation standards have not yet met the requirements, such as how much money should be deducted for supporting two elderly people, and how many levels should be deducted in the country, etc. It is very difficult to set standards now. "

In addition, he also believes that the implementation of family-based tax reporting is also in conflict with our country's current laws and regulations, such as the tax payment for families with excess births. A couple has three children in violation of family planning regulations. The unit tax payment will at least deduct the necessary living costs of the husband and wife and 3 children, but this has become a connivance and acquiescence to the violation of the family planning policy, and how to coordinate is also a difficult problem.

Zang Tao told the management Put forward suggestions: Establish taxpayers, especially high-income groups, as soon as possible to pay tax files, promote the taxpayer interview system across the country, improve the tax declaration system, establish a taxpayer code based on the taxpayer's ID number, and stipulate the current period in legal form. Real-name system for income or personal property.

Many experts said that at present, it will take some time to implement a family-based tax collection. It is time to consider "family declaration". Moreover, the pilot work must be carried out. China has gradually entered an aging society. There will be more and more cases of a family supporting 4 elderly people, or even 6 or 8 elderly people. Considering family factors, it is difficult to reflect fairness.

In any case, the proposal to pay taxes by family as a unit points out a direction for personal tax reform, and maybe conditions will be more mature in four or five years.