经济学人101:企业税务 计划夭折

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　　企业税务

　　Death of the Double Irish

　　计划夭折

　　The Irish government plans to alter one of its more controversial tax policies

　　爱尔兰政府计划改变其一项颇具争议的税收政策

　　BONO may front one of the world's most popular rock bands, but the U2 singer did not earn many new fans when he recently defended Ireland's controversial tax policies, which are widely seen as helping³ multinationals⁴ to avoid paying their fair share. Even Ireland's government seems to be having doubts. On October 14th it announced plans to close the country's biggest loophole, the “Double Irish”.

　　BONO 也许面对的是世界上最流行的摇滚乐队之一，但是U2最近并没有因为爱尔兰有争议的税收政策做辩护而增加新的粉丝，而这一税收政策被广泛认为是在帮助跨国公司避税，而这些税本是公平份额。甚至爱尔兰政府似乎也有些疑虑。10月14日，其宣布了用以弥补国家最大漏洞的“Double Irish”计划。

　　企业税务.jpg

　　The Double Irish allows companies to shift their profits from high-tax countries to havens⁵. This is typically done by transferring royalty⁶ payments for intellectual property to a firm inIreland, then on to another Irish-registered subsidiary that is tax-resident in a country with no corporate-income tax, such as Bermuda. Users can thereby⁷ cut their effective tax rate—perfectly legally—far below Ireland's already low 12.5% rate, in some cases down to less than 2%. The ruse⁸ is popular with American computing⁹ and pharmaceutical¹⁰ firms.

　　“Double Irish”计划可以使公司收益更多，把高税收国家变成了天堂。这通常是通过将知识产权特许使用金转入一家位于爱尔兰的公司，而后转入另一家在爱尔兰注册的子公司，该子公司为某一国家没有企业所得税纳税居民，如百慕大。用户因此可以缩减其有效税率，使其远远低于爱尔兰已经很低12.5%的税率，在某些情况下，甚至可以低于2%，且完全合法。这一策略在美国计算机公司及制药公司中被普遍使用。

　　From January all new companies domiciled inIrelandwill also have to be tax-residents there, making the Double Irish impossible.Irelandis acting¹¹ under pressure from America, the European Commission and the OECD, which are working on multilateral reform of international tax rules to curb¹² avoidance. This is not the first time it has buckled¹³. Last year it made it illegal for firms registered inIrelandto declare themselves stateless for tax purposes.

　　从一月起，所有在爱尔兰注册的新公司将不得不成为这里纳税居民，这使得“Double Irish”计划不可能再有后续进展。爱尔兰在行动的同时还要要考虑来着美国，欧盟委员会和经济合作与发展组织的压力，它们正致力于多边国际税法改革以遏制避税行为。这已经不是第一次改革了。去年其使得在爱尔兰注册的公司为避税而宣布其无国籍的行为变得非法。

　　The retreat has kindled¹⁴ fears that foreign firms, many of which moved to Ireland largely for its tax policies, will leave for more accommodating climes. (As it is, a clampdown on avoidance in America seems to have deterred¹⁵ AbbVie, a drugs firm, from taking over Shire, a rival based inIreland.) Yet the government is giving with one hand even as it takes with the other. On the same day it did away with the Double Irish, it created a “knowledge development box”, which will allow firms to pay a lower tax rate on profits from intellectual property booked inIreland. The OECD has tried, unsuccessfully, to limit this type of tax benefit, which is also known as a “patent box”. Moreover, the Double Irish won't die overnight. Companies already registered in Ireland are being given six years to alter their accounting¹⁶ structures.

　　“Double Irish”计划的衰落引发了外国公司的担心，许多外国公司是由于爱尔兰的税收政策才迁入爱尔兰的，他们将离开爱尔兰去寻找政策更好的地方。（实际上，打压美国公司的避税行为似乎是在阻止AbbVie制药公司取代其竞争对手——源于爱尔兰的Shire。）然而，政府一只手在奉献，另一只手却在掠夺。摒弃了“Double Irish”计划的同一天，政府又创建了一个“知识发展盒子”计划，该计划使得公司利用登记在爱尔兰的知识产权盈利时所应缴纳的所得税税率更低。经济合作与发展组织尝试过去限制此类被称为“专利盒子”税收优惠，但失败了。此外，“Double Irish”计划不会在一夜之间魂飞魄散。已经在爱尔兰注册的公司会被给予6年的时间以改变其会计结构。

　　Ireland's move will raise pressure on other countries that are seen as enablers of rampant¹⁷ tax avoidance, even if they are not themselves havens, thanks to their business-friendly networks of tax treaties. Chief among them are Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Bono knows all about the fiscal¹⁸ delights of the Low Countries: in 2006, U2 moved the firm that houses its publishing royalties¹⁹ from Ireland to the Netherlands, largely for tax reasons.

　　爱尔兰的举动会给那些被视为猖獗的避税行为推动者的国家带来压力，即使他们也不是避税天堂，多亏了他们的亲商税收条约网络。这其中最主要的国家是卢森堡和荷兰。Bono很清楚低税收国家的财政喜悦：在2006年，U2将其出版公司从爱尔兰迁到荷兰，很大程度上是出于税收的原因。译者：川端

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