One year on, China’s most-hyped tax is still mostly hype
过去的一年，中国最热的税收依然被炒得沸沸扬扬
Feb 4th 2012 | HONG KONG | from the print edition
THE vast city of Chongqing in south-west China is famous for its hills, which punish the knees, and its skyline, which strains the neck. The metropolis, straddling the Yangzi river, is sprawling outward as well as upwards (see picture), and its municipal government is keen to capture more of the value created by its rapid development. A year ago it pioneered a tax on large single-family homes and new luxury flats. Some 1,400km (870 miles) downstream, Shanghai also imposed a tax on luxury second apartments.
位于中国西南部的大城市重庆，以山多路险、高耸的天际线著称。这座大城市，跨越长江，楼群遍布并向长江上游延伸。市政府希望在快速发展中获得更多的创造价值。一年前，重庆试行向大型独栋住宅和高档住房征税，这开创了先例。约1400公里的下游，上海也对购买第二套房征税。
Such property taxes are common elsewhere in the world, championed by economists, resented by homeowners. But in China, they are a novelty. Advocates argue that such taxes could ease two of China’s biggest economic problems. The first is the speculative fever that so often grips the housing market.The second is the debt that troubles local governments.
房产税在受到经济学家们拥护的同时却激怒了房产所有人，这在世界上其他地方很普遍。但在中国，却是新鲜事儿。支持者辩称，征收房产税能够缓解中国最大的两个经济难题，首先是挥之不去的房地产投机热，其次是困扰地方政府的债务。
This debt reflects China’s peculiar division of fiscal revenues and responsibilities. The constitution, in an intriguing phrase, promises to give “full play to the initiative and enthusiasm” of the country’s local authorities, but its fiscal arrangements give them little to play with. In 2010 local governments accounted for over four-fifths of public spending but collected just 45% of the country’s tax revenues, a gap amounting to 4.1 trillion yuan ($600 billion) or just over 10% of GDP.
这些债务折射出中国特有的财政收入与责任的失调。宪法以一种有趣的方式这样描述：承诺让地方政府充分发挥其主动性与积极性，但在财政分配中却几乎不给他们发挥的机会。2010年，地方政府占中国公共支出的4/5以上，但征税只占全国的45%，差额为4.1万亿人民币（6000亿美元），这刚好超过GDP的10%。
Handouts from the central government fill much of that gap. Meanwhile, local governments’ favourite source of cash lies underfoot. In 2006-10 across China they sold land-use rights to over 22,000km2 of land, an area the size of New Jersey.
来自中央政府的补贴填补了这一差额。与此同时，最受地方政府亲睐的资金来源在于土地。2006年到2010年间，地方政府出售了超过22,000平方公里土地的使用权，面积相当于新泽西州那么大。
Such sales are lucrative, but also divisive. Urban land in China belongs to the state, whereas rural land is owned “collectively”. This hazy definition lets officials use their power as representatives of the state to displace villagers on the urban fringe.Officials pay the farmers compensation on the basis of the land’s agricultural value, whereas developers buy the land at a price nearer to its commercial value. So city governments profit at the expense of villagers. The shenanigans provoked a remarkable uprising in the small southern town of Wukan in December, and protests happen elsewhere almost daily.
这样的买卖利润可观，但也埋下了不和谐的因素。中国规定城市土地属于国家所有，而农村土地属于集体所有。这样模糊的规定让官员们运用手中作为国家的代表的权力，重新安置生活在城市边缘的村民。政府根据土地的农业价值支付农民补偿金，却以商业价值出售给土地开发商。因此，政府是以牺牲农民为代价换取利润的。去年11月，在南方的小村乌坎，官员的恶劣行为激起了村民的抗议，在其他地方，几乎每天都有抗议发生。
To calm rural discontent, larger cities now offer more generous compensation, Joyce Yanyun Man of Peking University says.
But the property market is slowing and sales are faltering. That will make it harder for local governments to repay the huge debts they incurred during the stimulus programme of 2009-10, when the central government urged state banks to lend to local governments in order to stave off the effects of the global financial crisis. Localities now have a pressing need to find other sources of revenue.
据北京大学的满燕云称，为了平息农村的不满，稍大的城市开始支付给村民更多的补偿金。2009年到2010年间，中央政府为避免全球经济危机的影响，出台了的一系列刺激计划，要求国有银行向地方政府借款，由此形成了地方政府的巨额债务。但房地产市场开始疲软，成交量开始下降，这会使地方政府更难以偿还巨额债务。如今，地方政府迫切需要寻找其他的增税渠道。
China already imposes taxes on property—as many as a dozen, according to Bo-sin Tang of Hong Kong Polytechnic University. But most cover the buying or selling of it. None reflects its market value or falls on the most common form of property: homes. The taxes therefore make a paltry contribution to local coffers.
据香港理工大学邓宝善称，中国已经出台了针对房地产的一揽子征税计划，而且大部分涉及房产买卖市场。但其中没有一项能够体现房产的市场价值或针对最常见的财产形式——住房。因此，这些征税对地方财政没有多大贡献。
China’s government has talked about introducing a fully fledged tax on home ownership since 2003. What has stopped it? The logistical barriers should not be underestimated, says Mr Tang. The government must clarify who owns what, and decide what a property is worth. Fair valuations need expertise and independent judgment—both in short supply in China. Unfair valuations, on the other hand, will breed resistance and evasion, which China already has in abundance.
2003年以来，中国政府已开始考虑在房产所有权领域引入一项完全成熟的税收。是什么阻碍了它？配套措施不容低估，邓继续说道。政府必须理清房产所有权，并对其价值进行评估。公平的估值需要专业知识和独立的判断，这两样都是中国所缺乏的；另一方面，不公平的估值会引发抵制和逃税，这种现象在中国已经很普遍了。
But the biggest obstacle is political. Most urban residents own their home. Some, including many party officials, own several. For them, a property tax would be a levy not on their home, but on the wealth they have locked up in property that often lies vacant. The Communist Party does not want an angry middle class.
但是最大的障碍是政治方面的。大多数城市居民拥有自己的房子。一些人，包括许多共产党官员在内的则有几套，对他们而言，房产税不是在征收自己房子的税，而是征收他们那些已经锁定在闲置房产上的财产的税。共产党并不希望形成一个愤怒的中产阶层。
These political sensitivities are apparent even in the pioneering cities. Chongqing, for example, charges a puny rate (0.5-1.2%) on a tiny number of properties—barely 8,500, according to Xinhua, the state news agency. The much-ballyhooed experiment netted just 90m yuan in its first ten months, less than 0.2% of Chongqing’s tax revenue.
这些敏感的政治问题是显而易见的，即使是在领先的城市中。以重庆为例，据国家通讯社新华社报道，重庆只对一小部分房子（仅8500套）征收很低税率的税收(0.5-1.2%)。这个被大肆宣传的尝试在头十个月仅征收到了9000万人民币，低于重庆税收收入的0.2%。
To put a lid on property speculation and plug the hole in municipal finances, China’s property taxes will have to cover more homes in more cities. None has yet volunteered, though faltering land sales may give them a prod. And some cities might take the plunge if the central government offered to lift the curbs it has placed on property speculation. In the realm of property taxation, alas, China’s local authorities have shown neither initiative nor enthusiasm.
为了遏制房地产投机，弥补市财政差额，中国的房产税将不得不覆盖更多的城市更多的房子。尽管不景气的土地买卖可能会刺激地方政府转向征收房产税，但还没有城市自告奋勇愿意一试。如果中央政府提出解除之前对房地产投机的限制，一些城市或许会冒险一试。可惜，在房产税上，中国地方政府的主动性与积极性尚未表现出来。
