2014年经济学人 税收磨刀霍霍向猪羊

Taxing corporate¹ cash

A tempting² target

South Korea's government tries to get firms to spend their accumulated riches

SINCE becoming South Korea's finance minister in July, Choi Kyung-hwan has been busy. First came a 41 trillion won stimulus³ package. Now Mr Choi is trying to pep up the economy further by getting South Korean firms to spend more on wages and dividends⁵.

Mr Choi's scheme, submitted to South Korea's parliament this week, will tax companies' cash piles on the grounds that corporate stinginess is holding the country back. Cash reserves at South Korea's ten biggest chaebol, or conglomerates⁶, have doubled in five years. Together, the country's non-financial firms hold over 450 trillion won. Though corporate earnings⁷ trebled between 2000 and 2012, household income in Korea barely doubled. The pace of salary growth has dropped, from 4.4% a year between 2001 and 2005 to just 0.3% a year since 2011.

If the plan is approved, the 4,000 or so South Korean firms with over 50 billion won in capital will pay a 10% surcharge on their corporate tax rate unless they have spent a certain proportion of their income on dividends, investment and wages. The government has yet to set the threshold, but it is likely to be 60-80%. Firms will also be exempt⁸ if they spend 20-40% of income on dividends and wages alone, a nod to the low investment rate of the service sector⁹.

Companies are stockpiling cash in the face of mounting Chinese competition and slowing domestic demand as South Koreans age. Their bosses also remember the Asian financial crisis of 1997-8, when many firms ran out of cash and were forced to sell assets. They are miserly with dividends. Yields on South Korean equities¹⁰ are among the lowest in the world, at around 1.2%. Payouts dropped by 15% in the first half of this year, to 455 billion won.

Low dividends are thought to be part of the reason for the “Korea discount”: the relatively¹¹ low valuations of Korean firms. Daishin Securities, a local broker¹², estimates that Mr Choi's scheme will boost dividend⁴ payments by about 3 trillion won a year, a 28% increase.

It is less clear, argues Shaun Cochran of CLSA, another broker, how much the tax will help the economy. Foreigners, who hold a third of the shares of South Korea's 200 biggest companies, will be some of its chief beneficiaries. Forcing companies to spend their cash could lead to unproductive investments. Many will squirrel away their reserves in property. Last week Hyundai, another chaebol, bought a plot of land for new headquarters in central Seoul for a whopping $10 billion. Kim Hak-soo of the Korea Institute of Public Finance, which advises the government, says it ought to be lowering corporate tax rates to achieve higher growth, not raising them.

Firms may choose to pay the tax rather than make marginal investments or raise wages . Mr Choi's ministry¹³ insists that it wants “zero revenue” from the scheme. It, too, may soon find itself with lots of cash on its hands.

1 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

2 tempting   

a.诱人的, 吸引人的

参考例句：

• It is tempting to idealize the past. 人都爱把过去的日子说得那么美好。
• It was a tempting offer. 这是个诱人的提议。

3 stimulus   

n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物

参考例句：

• Regard each failure as a stimulus to further efforts.把每次失利看成对进一步努力的激励。
• Light is a stimulus to growth in plants.光是促进植物生长的一个因素。

4 dividend   

n.红利，股息；回报，效益

参考例句：

• The company was forced to pass its dividend.该公司被迫到期不分红。
• The first quarter dividend has been increased by nearly 4 per cent.第一季度的股息增长了近 4%。

5 dividends   

红利( dividend的名词复数 )； 股息； 被除数； （足球彩票的）彩金

参考例句：

• Nothing pays richer dividends than magnanimity. 没有什么比宽宏大量更能得到厚报。
• Their decision five years ago to computerise the company is now paying dividends. 五年前他们作出的使公司电脑化的决定现在正产生出效益。

6 conglomerates   

n.（多种经营的）联合大企业( conglomerate的名词复数 )；砾岩；合成物；组合物

参考例句：

• At the surface, radioactivity of the conglomerates is locally as high as 30 X background. 在地表，砾岩的局部地段的放射性高达30倍本底值。 来自辞典例句
• The conglomerates failed to understand that books could not be sold like soap. 这些联合大企业不懂卖书不象卖肥皂那样。 来自辞典例句

7 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

8 exempt   

adj.免除的；v.使免除；n.免税者，被免除义务者

参考例句：

• These goods are exempt from customs duties.这些货物免征关税。
• He is exempt from punishment about this thing.关于此事对他已免于处分。

9 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

10 equities   

普通股，股票

参考例句：

• These are invested mainly in the OECD bonds and equities. 这些资产主要投资于经济合作及发展组织的债券与股票市场。
• They are also advantage of the global rebound in equities. 它们还在利用全球股市反弹的机会。

11 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

12 broker   

n.中间人，经纪人；v.作为中间人来安排

参考例句：

• He baited the broker by promises of higher commissions.他答应给更高的佣金来引诱那位经纪人。
• I'm a real estate broker.我是不动产经纪人。

13 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。