評論
打印
Finance & economics
財經版塊
Fiscal policy
財政政策
In search of lost revenue
尋找遺失的稅收
Sin taxes are suffering from a shortage of sinners
罪惡稅缺少可征稅的罪惡
Pity the California taxman.
可憐一下加州的稅務官吧。
The state has a yawning budget deficit, which politicians are attempting to narrow.
該州有巨大的財政預算赤字，政府官員們正試圖縮小缺口。
Local laws make it difficult to raise taxes, requiring a two-thirds majority.
地方法律使得增加稅收很困難，需要三分之二的多數票才能進行。
Worse, once-reliable sources of funds are running dry.
更糟糕的是，曾經可靠的資金來源正在枯竭。
Fuel-tax revenues are forecast to fall sharply as drivers switch to electric vehicles.
隨著人們轉向電動汽車，燃油稅收入預計將大幅下降。
Revenues from cigarette taxes have fallen by $500m, or 29%, since 2017; now those from alcohol taxes are dropping, too.
自2017年以來，香煙稅的收入已經下降了5億美元，即下降29%，現在，酒精稅的收入也在下降。
This is a concern: at present, revenues from the trio of taxes amount to nearly half of what the state spends on higher education.
這是一個令人擔憂的問題：目前，這三項稅收的收入幾乎占加州高等教育支出的一半。
Others are in a similar situation.
其他地方也處于類似情況。
The EU plans to phase out fossil fuels even as its finance ministries continue to depend on fuel taxes.
歐盟計劃逐步淘汰化石燃料，即使其財政部仍依賴燃料稅。
Britain’s budget watchdog forecasts that the disappearance of petrol and diesel cars will cut ?13bn ($17bn) a year from tax revenues by 2030; on October 30th Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, declined to raise Britain’s fuel levy, fearful of a backlash.
英國預算監督機構預測，到2030年，汽油和柴油汽車的消失將使稅收每年減少130億英鎊（170億美元），10月30日，財政大臣蕾切爾·里夫斯拒絕提高英國的燃油稅，擔心會遭到強烈反對。
Receipts from other “questionable” products and activities—alcohol, gambling, tobacco and sugar—have fallen from 4.5% of Britain’s tax take to 3.2% over the past decade.
來自其他“有問題”產品和活動——酒精、賭博、煙草和糖——的稅收收入在過去十年中從占英國稅收的4.5%下降到了3.2%。
Governments spent years fighting sin. Now they miss it.
各國政府曾花費數年時間打擊罪惡，現在它們懷念這些罪惡了。
At the turn of the 20th century, some 90% of American federal revenue came from alcohol and tobacco taxes.
在20世紀初，美國聯邦政府約90%的收入來自于酒精和煙草稅。
As the state grew larger, general levies became more common, with sin taxes mostly used as a tool to change behaviour.
隨著國家規模的擴大，一般稅收變得更加普遍，而罪惡稅主要被用作改變人們行為的工具。
Recently they have grown in popularity, as governments have become ever more concerned about the health of their populations.
最近罪惡稅越來越受歡迎，因為政府對人們的健康狀況越來越關注。
Taxes now account for well over half the cost of a packet of cigarettes in Britain, which has helped push up the cost of a pack by 220% over the past 30 years.
在英國，現在一包香煙的成本中，稅收占了一半以上，這使得過去30年里一包香煙的成本上漲了220%。
Although taxes on fuel are not strictly sin taxes, as they are levied to pay for road maintenance, their decline is driven by the fight against a modern sin: carbon-dioxide emissions.
雖然燃油稅并非嚴格意義上的“罪惡稅”，因為這種稅是為了支付道路維護費用而征收的，但這種稅的下降是由對抗現代罪惡——二氧化碳排放——所推動的。
Nearly all studies on the impact of sin taxes find an effect.
幾乎所有對罪惡稅影響的研究都發現這種稅是有效果的。
For instance, a British government review, looking at the impact of a levy on soft drinks, found that it prompted manufacturers to reduce the sugar content of their products by 46%.
例如，英國政府的一項審查報告研究了對軟飲料征稅的影響，發現征稅促使制造商將產品的含糖量降低了46%。
Social change is also playing a part, with populations across the rich world growing increasingly abstemious.
社會變革也發揮了作用，富裕世界的人們飲食越來越節制。
In 1980, 33% of Americans smoked. Now just 12% do.
在1980年，33%的美國人吸煙?，F在只有12%的人吸煙。
What to do about the growing budgetary hole?
那么如何應對不斷擴大的預算缺口呢？
Ratcheting up taxes on existing sins is an obvious choice.
增加現有罪惡稅是一個明顯的選擇。
The problem is that doing so changes behaviour, further reducing revenues.
問題在于這樣做會改變人們的行為，從而進一步減少稅收收入。
California, for example, has raised its fuel tax every year since 2019.
例如，加州自2019年以來每年都提高燃油稅。
Britain’s budget on October 30th announced even heavier levies on booze, smokes and soft drinks.
英國10月30日的預算宣布對酒、煙和軟飲料征收更高的稅。
In September Slovakia approved new laws to raise taxes on sugary drinks and tobacco products, one of a host of measures that Robert Fico, the country’s prime minister, says will help solve its budget problems.
9月，斯洛伐克批準了提高含糖飲料和煙草制品稅收的新法律，該國總理羅伯特·菲佐表示，這一系列措施將有助于解決其預算問題。
The search is also on for new sins to tax.
各國也在搜尋可以用來征稅的新的罪惡。
In the budget Ms Reeves announced a new duty to be levied on e-cigarettes.
在預算中，里夫斯宣布了一項新的電子煙稅。
America’s current vices of choice are marijuana and sports gambling.
美國當前可選擇的罪惡是大麻和體育賭博。
Lots of states have legalised both over the past decade, lured in large part by the prospect of extra tax revenues.
在過去十年中，許多州都將這兩者合法化，很大程度上是受到了未來可征收額外稅收的誘惑。
In 2022 California earned double the amount from taxes on marijuana as it did from those on alcohol.
2022年，加利福尼亞州從大麻稅中獲得的收入是從酒精稅中獲得收入的兩倍。
“Let’s just hope a lot of people gamble and we get a lot of money,” remarked Jack Evans, author of the bill that legalised sports betting in Washington, DC, in 2018.
“但愿很多人去賭博，然后我們就能收很多錢。”杰克·埃文斯說，他是2018年使華盛頓特區體育賭博合法化的法案的起草者。
Replacing fuel taxes is a tougher challenge.
替換掉燃油稅是一項更艱巨的挑戰。
Charging drivers as they fill up their tanks is straightforward and fair: someone who drives a lot, and thus wears out roads, will also pay a lot of tax.
在司機加油時向他們收費是直接且公平的：開車多的人會磨損道路，因此他們也將支付更多的稅。
Flat taxes on vehicle registrations would burden those who do not drive much; an electric car can be charged anywhere, making it difficult to identify electricity used for the purpose.
對車輛登記征收統一的稅會給那些開車少的人帶來負擔，而且電動汽車可以在任何地方充電，很難確定哪些電力是用于開車。
Another option would be to charge drivers for every mile they drive.
另一個選擇是向司機收取他們行駛的每一英里的費用。
Virginia is experimenting with such an approach, but its voluntary programme has only 30,000 participants out of 6m drivers, and the state makes a loss on the project.
弗吉尼亞州正在嘗試這種方法，但在600萬司機中，只有3萬人參與了這個自愿項目，而且該州在這個項目上出現了虧損。
Gluttons, gamblers and gas-guzzlers may seem in a weak position to argue back.
暴食者、賭徒和耗油大戶似乎無法理直氣壯地反駁這些稅收。
But even sinners have the vote, as Ms Reeves was acutely aware when she declined to raise fuel duty.
但即使是罪人也有投票權，里夫斯在拒絕提高燃油稅時就敏銳地意識到了這一點。
And policymakers want to avoid a sin of their own: greed
而且政策制定者們也應該避免他們自己的一種罪過：貪婪。
