評論
打印
Taxing corporate cash
稅收磨刀霍霍向“豬羊”
A tempting target
一個誘人的目標
South Korea's government tries to get firms to spend their accumulated riches
韓國政府試圖向企業現金儲備征稅來充盈國庫
SINCE becoming South Korea's finance minister in July, Choi Kyung-hwan has been busy. First came a 41 trillion won stimulus package. Now Mr Choi is trying to pep up the economy further by getting South Korean firms to spend more on wages and dividends.
自7月擔任韓國財政部長一職以來，崔炅煥一直在忙碌中度過。首輪就拋出41萬億韓元的經濟刺激計劃?，F在崔部長正試圖通利用韓國企業的收入和利潤進一步激勵經濟。
Mr Choi's scheme, submitted to South Korea's parliament this week, will tax companies' cash piles on the grounds that corporate stinginess is holding the country back. Cash reserves at South Korea's ten biggest chaebol, or conglomerates, have doubled in five years. Together, the country's non-financial firms hold over 450 trillion won. Though corporate earnings trebled between 2000 and 2012, household income in Korea barely doubled. The pace of salary growth has dropped, from 4.4% a year between 2001 and 2005 to just 0.3% a year since 2011.
崔部長在本周將要提交給韓國國會的計劃中指出，政府將要向企業的現金儲備征稅，其原因在于企業不去投資發展而是大量現金儲備的行為影響了經濟的前行。韓國十大財閥企業集團的現金儲備量在五年內翻了一番。與此相對應的，該國的非金融公司持有量超過450萬億韓元。雖然從2000年到2012年，韓國企業的盈利增長了兩倍,家庭收入幾乎翻了一倍，但是工資增長的速度卻在下降，增速從2001年到2005年間的4.4%下降到2011年以來每年的0.3%。
If the plan is approved, the 4,000 or so South Korean firms with over 50 billion won in capital will pay a 10% surcharge on their corporate tax rate unless they have spent a certain proportion of their income on dividends, investment and wages. The government has yet to set the threshold, but it is likely to be 60-80%. Firms will also be exempt if they spend 20-40% of income on dividends and wages alone, a nod to the low investment rate of the service sector.
如果該議案被批準,那么約有4000家資本超過500億韓元的企業要將占其收入一定比例的利潤用于分紅，投資或者職工薪酬，否則就要繳納其企業所得稅10%的附加費。政府尚未設置臨界值，但及其可能為60%—80%。如果企業將其公司20%-40%的收入用于股息和工資的發放，那么將獲得政府扶持投資的低利率貸款。
Companies are stockpiling cash in the face of mounting Chinese competition and slowing domestic demand as South Koreans age. Their bosses also remember the Asian financial crisis of 1997-8, when many firms ran out of cash and were forced to sell assets. They are miserly with dividends. Yields on South Korean equities are among the lowest in the world, at around 1.2%. Payouts dropped by 15% in the first half of this year, to 455 billion won.
公司現金儲備面臨著越來越多來自中國的競爭和國內需求放緩和人口老齡化的考驗。企業老板們依稀還記得1997—1998年席卷亞洲的金融危機,當時，許多公司資金耗盡，被迫出售資產。他們削減股息(見圖表)。韓國股市的收益率是世界上最低的國家之一，約為1.2%左右。今年上半年支出為4550億韓元，下降了15%。
Low dividends are thought to be part of the reason for the “Korea discount”: the relatively low valuations of Korean firms. Daishin Securities, a local broker, estimates that Mr Choi's scheme will boost dividend payments by about 3 trillion won a year, a 28% increase.
低股利被認為是韓國公司估值相對較低的一部分原因。韓國本土的大信證券公司估計，崔部長的計劃將使得每年的股息支付增加大概3萬億韓元，較之前增加了28%。
It is less clear, argues Shaun Cochran of CLSA, another broker, how much the tax will help the economy. Foreigners, who hold a third of the shares of South Korea's 200 biggest companies, will be some of its chief beneficiaries. Forcing companies to spend their cash could lead to unproductive investments. Many will squirrel away their reserves in property. Last week Hyundai, another chaebol, bought a plot of land for new headquarters in central Seoul for a whopping $10 billion. Kim Hak-soo of the Korea Institute of Public Finance, which advises the government, says it ought to be lowering corporate tax rates to achieve higher growth, not raising them.
里昂證券的經紀人肖恩·科克倫則認為，目前還不太清楚，稅收收入的多少將有助于經濟。外國投資者持有三分之一的韓國200家最大的公司的股票,將成為此項規定的主要受益者。而該計劃也迫使企業拼命花掉現金，導致非生產性投資。許多人會將現金購入資產作為資產儲備。上周，另一個財閥——韓國現代氣團，在首爾市中心購入價值高達100億美元的地皮作為新的總部所在地。韓國公共財政研究所的金正日建議政府,應該降低企業所得稅稅率，以實現更快的經濟增長,而不是提高稅率。
Firms may choose to pay the tax rather than make marginal investments or raise wages . Mr Choi's ministry insists that it wants “zero revenue” from the scheme. It, too, may soon find itself with lots of cash on its hands.
企業可以選擇納稅而不是進行邊際投資或提高工資。崔炅煥的發言人堅稱,政府希望企業可以更多分紅或者漲工資。但是往往事與愿違，那些財閥們寧愿交稅也不分紅漲工資呢。
