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TE||Yin and yang

 一天一篇TE 2020-12-08

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导读


带你认识霍尔果斯

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听力|精读|翻译|词组

Yin and yang

阴阳合同

英文部分选自经济学人Business版块

Tax evasion in China

Yin and yang

中国的偷税漏税问题之阴阳合同

Film studios and financial firms flock to new Chinese tax havens

影视公司和金融公司纷纷涌入中国新的避税天堂

IT IS hard to go a day in China without seeing Fan Bingbing. The doe-eyed starlet gazes from film posters (she has averaged four films a year for the past decade), airbrushed ads for global brands and glossy magazine covers. But in the past week she has graced articles about tax evasion. Shares in a film-production firm that she partly owns fell by 10% on fears that it might be ensnared in a scandal in which actors have allegedly concealed their salaries. Ms Fan has denied wrongdoing. On June 3rd the government began a probe into tax compliance in the entertainment industry.

在中国,我们几乎天天可以见到范冰冰相关的新闻。在过去十年里,她每年平均拍四部电影,无论是在电影海报上,或者世界知名品牌的巨幅喷印广告上,还是在时尚杂志封面上,你都会看到她那天真无邪的双眸在注视着你。但在过去一周里,她被牵涉到了涉嫌逃税的文章里。市场担心可能陷入逃税丑闻,她拥有部分股权的影视公司的股价下跌了10%。范冰冰否认任何不当行为。6月3日,政府开始对娱乐业的税收合规情况进行调查。

The controversy began when Cui Yongyuan, a TV presenter, described two anonymous contracts on Weibo, a microblog, one for 10m yuan ($1.6m) and another, linked to the first, for 50m yuan. He said it was a case of the “yin-and-yang” payments prevalent in the film business: reporting a low salary for taxation and pocketing a larger sum. Share prices of big film firms, such as Huayi Brothers, also plunged.

此次争议肇始于电视节目主持人崔永元在微博曝光了两份匿名合同,一份1000万元(约160万美金),与之相关联的另一份5000万元。据称此类“阴阳合同”在影视圈内比比皆是,申报小部分的薪资收入用于缴税,大部分收入则落入自己的腰包。受此影响,诸如华谊兄弟等数家大型影视上市公司股价暴跌。

Yin-and-yang contracts are illegal but common, from the property sector to football clubs. For years the government has tried to crack down on them. In one high-profile case, Liu Xiaoqing, a popular actress, was imprisoned in 2002. But the emergence of tax havens inside China is now complicating matters. Film studios have been among the most aggressive in taking advantage of them.

阴阳合同是非法的,但此现象很常见,上到房地产行业,下到足球俱乐部。多年来,政府一直在严厉打击逃税犯罪(阴阳合同)。2002年,著名女演员刘晓庆因涉逃税偷税被拘押,引起社会各界强烈关注。但如今,中国境内避税天堂的出现,让事情变得更加复杂。众多公司利用这些“天堂”避税,其中影视公司的表现最为积极。

Their destination of choice has been Khorgos, a desert outpost in China’s far west, next to Kazakhstan. The central government hopes to build it into a key link in trading networks that traverse central Asia. Companies that register in Khorgos enjoy a five-year holiday from corporate taxes, followed by another five years in which they pay only about half.

影视公司选择的避税目的地是霍尔果斯,这是中国最西部的边陲重镇,紧邻哈萨克斯坦。中央政府希望将它打造成为贯穿中亚贸易网络的关键一环。在霍尔果斯注册的公司可以享受前五年企业所得税全免征,后五年企业所得税减半征收。

注释:

1. 为什么电影公司喜欢开在霍尔果斯?

(https://www.zhihu.com/question/41040990 )

早在2011年“一带一路”战略提出后,新疆霍尔果斯获权成为新经济特区,实行免税政策。最重要的是提供了注册公司快速上市的“绿色通道”。特殊优惠政策和服务通道,使这一边陲城市迅速变成文娱公司聚集地。

In 2017, 14,472 firms registered themselves in Khorgos, up more than fourfold from 2016. Local tax revenues have soared. But many of the firms nominally based in the dusty border town do not actually do anything there. Roughly nine in ten are in asset-light industries, such as media and also financial services. Ms Fan is one of dozens of celebrities who have registered corporate entities in Khorgos. For private-equity firms, Tibet has become a popular locale for registering funds, also thanks to tax discounts.

2017年,在霍尔果斯注册的企业达到14,472家之多,比2016年增加了4倍多。当地的税收收入激增。然而,很多企业只是在这个尘土飞扬的边境小镇注册了公司,却未在当地开展任何业务。落户霍尔果斯的企业约90%集中在轻资产行业,譬如媒体业和金融服务业。众多明星将实体公司注册在霍尔果斯,范冰冰也名列其中。对于私募股权公司来说,西藏已经成为注册公司的热门地区,这也得益于其税收上的优惠条件。

Tax havens and yin-and-yang contracts highlight the holes in China’s tax system. The International Monetary Fund estimates that government revenue from taxes on personal incomes is only 1.2% of GDP, compared with around 10% in many advanced economies.

避税天堂和阴阳合同凸显了中国税收体系的漏洞。据国际货币基金组织估计,相比其他发达经济体个人所得税约占GDP的10%,中国的财政收入中,个人所得税只占GDP的1.2%。

China’s film business is booming; box-office revenues were $8.6bn in 2017, up from less than $1bn a decade ago. But with the Klieg lights glaring on Khorgos, studios and stars will probably have to start sharing more of their riches with the government. For all the glitz and glamour of its film industry, China is still working out the basics of efficient taxation.

中国的电影业正在蓬勃发展;2017年总票房收入达到了86亿美元,而十年前还不到10亿美元。然而,随着霍尔果斯成为舆论中心,影视公司和影视明星可能不得不开始和政府更多地分享他们的财富(交更多的税)。虽然中国电影业光彩夺目,但中国仍在致力于制定富有成效的征税方案。

注释:

For all:尽管,虽然(相当于in spite of)。例句For all my help, he still failed. 尽管有我的帮助,他仍然失败了。(出自赖世雄美国英语中级篇)

翻译组:

Tru,女,金融民工,经济学人粉丝

Ema, 女,外贸民工,经济学人粉丝

Grace,女,建筑民工,经济学人粉丝

VeRy,男,电气设计,经济学人爱好者

Roxanne,女,媒体民工,经济学人爱好者

Button,男,自由职业,经济学人爱好者

Xiaofeng,女,好奇心重的医疗民工,经济学人粉丝

校核组:

Li Xia, 女, HR, 经济学人发烧友

Pamela,女,新闻民工,经济学人爱好者

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观点|评论|思考

本次观点由Ema独家奉献

Ema, 女,外贸民工,经济学人粉丝

中国各路明星偷税漏税这样的事情,好像中国人民知道,老外也老早知道,不过税务机构好像刚知道。这个事件里崔永元不必上升为民族英雄,范冰冰也不是过街老鼠。只不过常态化的违法事件突然就成了热点,范冰冰在这个点上有点背。

第一个因偷税漏税而坐牢的明星是毛阿敏,且后来就一蹶不振,一段时间里成为丑闻的代名词。而后刘晓庆。但偷税漏税也没见得因抓了两个明星而减少些。中国的税收制度本身漏洞很大。只是相对于明星,税收制度对普通老百姓太严苛了些。普通人基本一个月四分之一的收入都得献给国家,生活压力如何大都不能幸免。说明抓明星比抓普通老百姓难。

作为普通人,希望在明星税收上打击的严重些,霍尔果斯这样的地方审查的严一些,毕竟抓一个明星可是抵得上无数个老百姓的可怜收入。

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