遗产税

遗产税

一、定义

遗产税是以被继承人去世后所遗留的财产为征税对象，向遗产的继承人和受遗赠人征收的税。理论上讲，遗产税如果征收得当，对于调节社会成员的财富分配有一定意义。

二、财政部：从未发布遗产税条例

10月17日，财政部在其网站公布《财政部关于政协十二届全国委员会第五次会议第0107号（财税金融类018号）提案答复的函》。该函回答了全国政协委员段祺华关于遗产税法律法规修改的提案的相关问题。

财政部答复函正式回应了这一问题：我国目前并未开征遗产税，也从未发布遗产税相关条例或条例草案。

三、遗产税的三个特点

一是征税范围复杂。遗产形态多种多样，既包括房地产等不动产，也包括银行存款、现金、股票、证券、古玩、字画、珠宝等动产，还包括知识产权等无形资产，开征遗产税需要全面、准确掌握居民财产信息，以及遗赠、继承等具体情况。

二是征管程序复杂。遗产税需要对各类财产进行合理估价，需要大量专业人员从事相关估价工作，征管中极易产生争议，争议解决程序通常也较为复杂。

三是征管配套条件要求高。开征遗产税还需要具备相应的征管条件，如不同政府部门的紧密配合、对拒不缴税的纳税人在法律中做出税收保全和强制措施制度安排等。

四、国际发展趋势

财政部称，从近年来遗产和赠与税的国际发展趋势看，征收遗产和赠与税在调节贫富差距的同时，可能会对一国的经济特别是国外资本流入和国内资本流出产生一定的影响，是否征收遗产和赠与税已逐步成为国家、地区间税收竞争、吸引投资的一项重要内容。部分开征遗产和赠与税的国家和地区近年来出现了取消或弱化该税种的趋势。
取消遗产税是大势所趋、世界潮流
　　虽然现在全球已有100多个国家开征了遗产税或对遗产课征其他税收，但是取消遗产税已经成了全球的主流趋势，尤其是发达国家和地区。

加拿大、澳大利亚、新西兰、意大利、新加坡都相继停征了遗产税。

而美国总统特朗普也在备受瞩目的“美国税改法案”中取消了美国的“遗产税”。

五、「经济学人」评论

遗产税带来两个互拆的原则：一是政府应该让人民自由支配财产；二是一个永久的、阶级固化的精英阶层对社会是不健康、不公平的。在两者之间如何选择？

“Such levies pit two vital liberal principles against each other. One is that governments should leave people to dispose of their wealth as they see fit. The other is that a permanent, hereditary elite makes a society unhealthy and unfair. How to choose between them?”

支持观点认为遗产税可以促进公平。

“The positive argument for steep inheritance taxes is that they promote fairness and equality.”

反对的观点，正如美国税改，认为根本不应该有遗产税。不仅因为人们把私有财产给孩子是天经地义的，尤其这些财产已经交过税了。而且大额的遗产税账单也是毁灭性的，因为会造成家族企业和农场的分裂，迫使出售祖屋。

“Armed with such arguments, some leap to the other extreme, proposing, as the American tax reform does, that there should be no inheritance tax at all. Not only is it right to let people hand their private property to their children, they say, but also bequests are often the fruits of labour that has already been taxed. And a large inheritance-tax bill is destructive, because it can cause the dismemberment of family firms and farms, and force the sale of ancestral homes.”

正确的方式是在二者中找到平衡点。税率可能不同国家有不同。但是3个设计原则是清晰的：1、针对富人，设计一个足够高的门槛；2、简化税制，设置一个比较平滑的税率（高到可以征到足够的税，又不至于促使人们大量逃税）和较高的免征额。3、通过遗产税增加财政收入后，在其他方面减税，减轻普通大众的税负。

“The right approach is to strike a balance between the two extremes. The precise rate will vary from country to country. But three design principles stand out. First, target the wealthy; that means taxing inheritors rather than estates and setting a meaningful exemption threshold. Second, keep it simple. Close loopholes for those who are caught in the net by setting a flat rate and by giving people a lifetime allowance for bequests; set the rate high enough to raise significant sums, but not so high that it attracts massive avoidance. Third, with the fiscal headroom generated by higher inheritance tax, reduce other taxes, lightening the load for most people.
A sensible discussion is hard when inheritance taxes prompt such a visceral reaction. But their erosion has attracted too little debate. A fair and efficient tax system would seek to include inheritance taxes, not eliminate them.”