2022年经济学人 欧洲对能源公司征收大笔税款

Finance & economics

财经板块

Windfall taxes: Power grab

意外利润税：争夺权力

Poloticians turn to a tax that is enticing¹ on paper, but tricky² in practice

政治家们盯上了一种看似诱人，却难以落实的税收政策

On march 8th, the day the price of a barrel of Brent crude oil spiked³ above $127, the European Commission unveiled its grand plan to fight stratospheric living costs.

3月8日，布伦特原油价格飙升至每桶127美元以上，当天，欧盟委员会公布了其应对惊人之高的生活成本的宏大计划。

Claiming that the “crisis situation” warranted exceptional measures, it recommended that member states levy⁴ a one-off tax on electricity-generating firms.

它声称“危机情况”需要采取特殊措施，建议成员国对发电公司征收一次性税。

The revenues raised could then be used to keep households’ bills down.

增加的收入可以用来降低民众家庭支出。

The next day Elizabeth Warren, a senator from Massachusetts, tweeted that she and other legislators were working on a tax on the “war-fuelled profits” accruing⁵ to American oil majors.

第二天，来自马萨诸塞州的参议员伊丽莎白·沃伦在推特上说，她和其他立法者正在研究对美国石油巨头们积累的“战争催动的利润”征税。

The proposal is now making its way through the House of Representatives.

该提案目前正在众议院审议。

Politicians have reached for such “windfall” taxes before. Bulgaria, Italy, Romania and Spain have imposed them on power generators⁶ in recent months, as benchmark energy prices have risen.

政客们曾经也征收过这种“意外利润税”。随着基准能源价格的上涨，保加利亚、意大利、罗马尼亚和西班牙近几个月对发电企业征收了“意外利润税”。

In 1980, America announced that it would begin taxing oil prodecers in 6 years' time, hoping to cash in on profits that were expected to be made after prices were deregulated.

1980年，美国宣布将在6年内开始对石油生产商征税，希望在油价解除管制后从预期的利润中获利。

Britain’s new Labour government taxed utilities in 1997, after the Conservative government had sold them off cheaply.

1997年，在保守党政府低价出售公用事业之后，英国的新工党政府开始对公用事业征税。

The levies⁷ are understandably tempting⁸ for the taxman. Big windfalls mean big receipts.

可以理解，这些税对税务人员来说很诱人。大笔的意外所得意味着大笔收入。

The usual worry with a tax is that it might change companies’ behaviour, say by encouraging them to lower investment in order to bring down future tax bills.

关于税收，人们常有的担忧是，它可能会改变公司的行为，比如会促使它们减少投资，以降低未来的税款。

But the event causing the windfall is meant to be a one-off, unconnected to investment.

但产生意外之财的事件往往是一次性的，与投资无关。

They are “extremely efficient ways to raise revenue”, says Helen Miller⁹ of the Institute for Fiscal¹⁰ Studies, a think-tank in London. At least, in theory.

伦敦智库财政研究所的海伦·米勒说，这是“非常有效的增加收入的方式”。至少在理论上是这样。

Britain’s tax probably fitted the ideal better than most. It had a clear rationale: that excess gains had come from the underpricing of shares when firms were privatised.

英国的税收可能比大多数国家更符合这一理想状态。它有一个明确的理论基础：超额收益源自公司私有化时的股票定价过低。

Post-privatisation profits were multiplied by a price-to-earnings ratio; a 23% tax was levied¹¹ on what was left over once public proceeds from privatisation were subtracted.

私有化后的利润乘以市盈率；从私有化中获得的公共收益被扣除之后，剩下的部分将被征收23%的税。

Even then, however, the tax failed to target the beneficiaries of excess gains.

然而，即便如此，这种税收也无法针对超额收益的受益人。

British Telecom, the first utility to be privatised, had listed in 1984. Many early punters had come and gone, leaving shareholders¹² in 1997 bearing the burden.

英国电信是第一家私有化的公用事业公司，于1984年上市。许多早期的投资者来了又走，只剩下股东们在1997年承受着负担。

Levies elsewhere have faced other hurdles¹³. In 2006 Mongolia introduced a 68% charge on profits from copper¹⁴ and gold sales, hoping to cash in on a new mine during a commodity-price boom.

其他地方的征税也面临着其他障碍。2006年，蒙古对铜和黄金销售的利润收取68%的费用，希望在大宗商品价格上涨期间从一座新矿中获利。

Instead, investors¹⁵ withheld¹⁶ funds for the project until regulators agreed to drop the tax. America’s tax did distort firms’ behaviour, by some estimates reducing oil production between 1980 and 1986 by up to 4.8%.

现实却恰恰相反，投资者扣留了该项目的资金，直到监管机构同意取消税收。美国的税收确实转变了企业的行为，据估计，1980年至1986年间，美国的石油产量减少了4.8%。

The European Commission’s plan has its flaws. It does not explain why the current situation warrants a one-off tax, adding uncertainty¹⁷ about when such levies might be used again.

欧盟委员会的计划有其缺陷。它没有解释为什么目前的情况需要征收一次性税，这增加了何时可能再次使用这种税收的不确定性。

Furthermore, the energy industry buys and sells power using long-term contracts, making the link between today’s prices and tomorrow’s profits fuzzy.

此外，能源行业使用的是长期合同进行电力买卖，所以当前价格和未来利润之间的关系比较模糊。

And prices can fall as quickly as they rise. By March 16th, for instance, the oil price was back to about $100 a barrel.

价格下跌的速度和上涨的速度一样快。例如，到3月16日，油价回到了每桶100美元左右。

Recent experiments offer scant¹⁸ grounds for optimism. Romania, Italy and Spain are targeting renewable-power generators, which have not experienced the same increase in costs as generators that use fossil fuels.

最近的实验很难让人乐观。罗马尼亚、意大利和西班牙正将目标瞄准可再生能源电力公司，因为这些电力公司的成本没有像使用化石燃料的公司那样上涨。

Richard Howard of Aurora¹⁹ Energy, a consultancy, says that this raises the “risk premium” of investing in renewables—exactly what legislators want to avoid.

咨询公司Aurora Energy的理查德·霍华德说，这增加了投资可再生能源的“风险溢价”，而这正是立法者想要避免的。

Peter Styles of the European Federation²⁰ of Energy Traders, a trade body, notes that Spain’s scheme stops green-energy generators accruing excess profits to begin with, which will distort the way prices are set in the market.

欧洲能源贸易联合会(一个贸易团体)的彼得·斯泰尔斯指出，西班牙的计划从一开始就阻止了绿色能源发电企业获得超额利润，这将改变市场定价的方式。

Their momentum²¹ across Europe also creates a fiscal opening that may be hard to close. The commission recommends that all windfall taxes should be wound down by the end of June.

欧洲的这种税收势头也创造了一个难以停止的财政开放现象。欧洲委员会建议所有的意外利润税应该在六月底结束。

But Spain has already extended its clawbacks once. And Italy’s measures will last until December.

但西班牙已经将征税款计划延长了一次。意大利的税收措施也将持续到12月。

1 enticing   

adj.迷人的；诱人的

参考例句：

• The offer was too enticing to refuse. 这提议太有诱惑力，使人难以拒绝。
• Her neck was short but rounded and her arms plump and enticing. 她的脖子短，但浑圆可爱；两臂丰腴，也很动人。

2 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

3 spiked   

adj.有穗的；成锥形的；有尖顶的

参考例句：

• The editor spiked the story. 编辑删去了这篇报道。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They wondered whether their drinks had been spiked. 他们有些疑惑自己的饮料里是否被偷偷搀了烈性酒。 来自辞典例句

4 levy   

n.征收税或其他款项，征收额

参考例句：

• They levy a tax on him.他们向他征税。
• A direct food levy was imposed by the local government.地方政府征收了食品税。

5 accruing   

v.增加( accrue的现在分词 )；（通过自然增长）产生；获得；（使钱款、债务）积累

参考例句：

• economic benefits accruing to the country from tourism 旅游业为该国带来的经济效益
• The accruing on a security since the previous coupon date. 指证券自上次付息日以来所累积的利息。 来自互联网

6 generators   

n.发电机，发生器( generator的名词复数 )；电力公司

参考例句：

• The factory's emergency generators were used during the power cut. 工厂应急发电机在停电期间用上了。
• Power can be fed from wind generators into the electricity grid system. 电力可以从风力发电机流入输电网。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 levies   

（部队）征兵( levy的名词复数 )； 募捐； 被征募的军队

参考例句：

• At that time, taxes and levies were as many as the hairs on an ox. 那时，苛捐杂税多如牛毛。
• Variable levies can insulate farmers and consumers from world markets. 差价进口税可以把农民和消费者与世界市场隔离开来。

8 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。

9 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

10 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

11 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。

12 shareholders   

n.股东( shareholder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The meeting was attended by 90% of shareholders. 90%的股东出席了会议。
• the company's fiduciary duty to its shareholders 公司对股东负有的受托责任

13 hurdles   

n.障碍( hurdle的名词复数 )；跳栏；（供人或马跳跃的）栏架；跨栏赛

参考例句：

• In starting a new company, many hurdles must be crossed. 刚开办一个公司时，必须克服许多障碍。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• There are several hurdles to be got over in this project. 在这项工程中有一些困难要克服。 来自辞典例句

14 copper   

n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的

参考例句：

• The students are asked to prove the purity of copper.要求学生们检验铜的纯度。
• Copper is a good medium for the conduction of heat and electricity.铜是热和电的良导体。

15 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

16 withheld   

withhold过去式及过去分词

参考例句：

• I withheld payment until they had fulfilled the contract. 他们履行合同后，我才付款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• There was no school play because the principal withheld his consent. 由于校长没同意，学校里没有举行比赛。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

18 scant   

adj.不充分的，不足的；v.减缩，限制，忽略

参考例句：

• Don't scant the butter when you make a cake.做糕饼时不要吝惜奶油。
• Many mothers pay scant attention to their own needs when their children are small.孩子们小的时候，许多母亲都忽视自己的需求。

19 aurora   

n.极光

参考例句：

• The aurora is one of nature's most awesome spectacles.极光是自然界最可畏的奇观之一。
• Over the polar regions we should see aurora.在极地高空,我们会看到极光。

20 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

21 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。