1、 毕业论文 外文翻译 2013 年 3 月 15 日外文来源 Cato Handbook for Policymakers Author :David Boaz 中文译文 卡 托 政 策 制 定 者 手 册 ： 戴 维 波 阿 斯 部 （系） 商 学 部 专 业 姓 名 学 号 2 0 0 9 0 1 2 0 0 1 4 6 指导老师 英文原文 1 Cato handbook for policymakers author: David Boaz Corporate tax reforms David Boaz Cato institute 7th Edition 2009 Corporate
2、 Tax Reforms A key issue for tax policy in the global economy is how to deal withmultinational corporations. Corporate taxation is important to investors,but also to the living standards of average Americans. In a globalizedeconomy, the burden of the corporate income tax falls mainly on workersin th
3、e form of lower wages. If corporations are not investing in the United States due to high taxes, labor productivity will fall, and that will dragdown American wages. Compared with foreign-based corporations, U.S. multinational corporations are subject to particularly high tax rates and complicated t
4、ax rules.The United States taxes corporations on their worldwide income, eventhough that income may also be subject to taxes in the foreign nationswhere it is earned. The U.S. tax code provides credits to minimize doubletaxation, but this is a complex and uncompetitive method of businesstaxation. Th
5、e worldwide system discourages the repatriation of foreignearnings, and it puts U.S. businesses at a disadvantage in foreign markets.By contrast, two-thirds of major nations tax corporations on a territorialbasis, which means that they generally do not tax business income earnedoutside their nationa
6、l borders. There would be two key advantages of the United States switchingfrom a worldwide to a territorial system of business taxation. First, itwould end the current tax barrier to the repatriation of foreign earnings.Currently, repatriated foreign earnings are subject to the 35 percent federalco
7、rporate tax, which suppresses profit repatriation and thus investment inthe United States. Under a territorial system, business profits earned abroadwould be repatriated free of a U.S. tax burden.Second, it would help make the United States a good home for theheadquarters of multinational corporatio
8、ns. Currently, a high tax rate andthe worldwide tax system make the United States a poor choice for locatingcorporate headquarters. If the United States switched to a territorial system,companies could earn profits abroad without a U.S. tax burden placed ontop of the foreign taxes paid. That would m
9、ake it easier for firms toexpand 英文原文 2 their foreign sales, which in turn would lead to expansion in firmsU.S. headquarters activities, such as management, finance, and research.Reducing the U.S. corporate tax rate is also a crucial reform becauseof the mobile nature of the corporate tax base in th
10、e globalized economy.Because of the high U.S. tax rate, companies put large efforts into movingtheir investments and reported profits abroad to low-tax nations, such asIreland. Americas high corporate tax rate is a loser for the U.S. economy,and it is also a loser for the government because it cause
11、s the tax baseto shrink dramatically.Recent experience shows that governments lose little, if any, revenuewhen they cut their corporate tax rates. Corporate tax cuts create strongdynamic responses that offset reductions in revenues. In our book GlobalTax Revolution, we calculated the average corpora
12、te tax rate and averagecorporate tax revenues as a share of gross domestic product for 19 industrialnations. The average corporate tax rate across countries was 40 percentor more until the mid-1980s. But then tax rates plunged, with the averagerate falling from 45 percent in 1985 to 29 percent by 20
13、05. Interestingly,corporate tax revenues did not decline as rates fell. In fact, tax revenuessoared from 2.6 percent of GDP in 1985 to 3.7 percent in 2005, whichis a 42 percent increase.Corporate tax revenues have surged in most countries that have cut taxrates. Lower rates generate more real invest
14、ment and higher incomes insubsequent years. In addition, tax rate cuts result in increases in reportedprofits as companies reduce their tax avoidance and tax evasion activities.The bottom line is that a corporate tax rate cut is a winner for the economy,for workers, and potentially for the governmen
15、t as well as the tax baseexpands over time. Backlash against Tax Competition The global tax revolution is a supply-side revolution. Supply-side taxcuts are those that reduce the costs of productive activities, such as working, investing, and starting businesses. If the costs of production are reduce
16、d,output will increase and incomes will rise. Tax competition creates pressureto cut precisely those taxes that are the most damaging to the economy.More tax competition means more productive economies and higher living standards.Alas, many politicians and pundits do not see it that way. They claimthat tax competition causes distortions in the private sector. The idea isthat if investment flows are driven in any way by taxation, it is inefficientfor the world economy. Ireland is receiving too much investmentbecause of its low business taxes, for example. Others argue that
