经济学人:为向死亡征税而辩(1)

 Leaders 领导者

The case for taxing death 为向死亡征税而辩

How to balance people's desire to bequeath assets with the unfairness of inheritance. 如何用继承的不公平去平衡人们对遗赠资产的欲望。

No tax is popular. 没有一种税受人待见。

But one attracts particular venom¹. 但是，有一种税招致特别的怨恨。

Inheritance tax is routinely seen as the least fair by Britons and Americans. 在英国人和美国人眼里，继承税通常是最缺少公平的。

This hostility² spans income brackets. 这种敌意贯穿各个收入阶层。

Indeed, surveys suggest that opposition³ to inheritance and estate taxes (one levied⁴ on heirs and the other on legacies) is even stronger among the poor than the rich. 实际上，各种调查显示，对继承税和遗产税（前者对继承人征收，后者对遗产征收）的反对，在穷人中甚至比在富人中更为强烈。

Politicians know a vote-winner when they see one. 政客们知道怎么去赢得选票。

The estate of a dead adult American is 95% less likely to face tax now than in the 1960s. 如今，死去的成年美国人的遗产比上世纪60年代，少了95%的面对税收的可能性。

And Republicans want to go all the way: the House of Representatives has passed a tax-reform plan that would completely abolish “death taxes” by 2025. 而且共和党意欲一条道走到黑：众议院已经通过了一项税改计划，该计划会到2025年完全废除各种“死亡税”。

For a time before the second world war, Britons were more likely to pay death duties than income tax; today less than 5% of estates catch the taxman's eye. 二战前有一段时间，在死亡税和收入税之间，英国人一度更加有可能缴纳前者；如今，不足5%的遗产引起税务人员的注意。

It is not just Anglo-Saxons. Revenue from these taxes in OECD countries, as a share of total government revenue, has fallen sharply since the 1960s. 不仅英美，在经合组织国家中，来自这些税的收入作为政府总收入的占比，自上世纪60年代以来也急剧下降了。

Many other countries have gone down the same path. 许多其他国家走过了同样的道路。

In 2004 even the egalitarian Swedes decided⁵ that their inheritance tax should be abolished. 甚至主张平均主义的瑞典也在2004年决定，他们的遗产税应当被废除。

Yet this trend towards trifling⁶ or zero estate taxes ought to give pause. 然而，这种朝向微量或者零遗产税的趋势应当暂停。

 

1 venom   

n.毒液，恶毒，痛恨

参考例句：

• The snake injects the venom immediately after biting its prey.毒蛇咬住猎物之后马上注入毒液。
• In fact,some components of the venom may benefit human health.事实上，毒液的某些成分可能有益于人类健康。

2 hostility   

n.敌对，敌意；抵制［pl.］交战，战争

参考例句：

• There is open hostility between the two leaders.两位领导人表现出公开的敌意。
• His hostility to your plan is well known.他对你的计划所持的敌意是众所周知的。

3 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

4 levied   

征（兵）( levy的过去式和过去分词 )； 索取； 发动（战争）； 征税

参考例句：

• Taxes should be levied more on the rich than on the poor. 向富人征收的税应该比穷人的多。
• Heavy fines were levied on motoring offenders. 违规驾车者会遭到重罚。

5 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

6 trifling   

adj.微不足道的；没什么价值的

参考例句：

• They quarreled over a trifling matter.他们为这种微不足道的事情争吵。
• So far Europe has no doubt, gained a real conveniency,though surely a very trifling one.直到现在为止,欧洲无疑地已经获得了实在的便利，不过那确是一种微不足道的便利。