Corporate tax in America

　　美国的公司税

　　How to stop the inversion perversion

　　如何阻止歪曲的误解

　　Restricting companies from moving abroad is no substitute for corporate-tax reform

　　限制公司出境并不能成为公司税改革的替代品

　　ECONOMIC refugees have traditionally lined up to getin to America. Lately, they have been lining up to leave. In the past few months, half a dozen biggish companies have announced plans to merge with foreign partners and in the process move their corporate homes abroad. The motive is simple: corporate taxes are lower in Ireland, Britain and, for that matter, almost everywhere else than they are in America.

　　经济难民历来都是排着队进美国的。然而 最近他们却开始排队离开。在过去的几个月里，许多较大的公司已经宣布计划与外国合作伙伴合并，并在这个过程中把他们的企业转移到国外。它们的动机很简单：从企业税的角度考虑，不管是爱尔兰、英国还是机会其他的任何国家都比美国的要低。

　　In Washington, DC, policymakers have reacted with indignation. Jack Lew, the treasury secretary, has questioned the companies' patriotism and called on Congress to outlaw such transactions. His fellow Democrats are eager to oblige, and some Republicans are willing tolisten.

　　在华盛顿特区，政策制定者们表现的愤懑不已。财政部长杰克·卢表示质疑这些公司是否爱国并呼吁国会取缔此类交易。他的民主党同僚们也表示认同，而一些共和党人也原意听取意见。

　　The proposals are misguided. Tightening the rules on corporate “inversions”, as these moves are called, does nothing to deal with the reason why so many firms want to leave: America has the rich world's most dysfunctional corporate-tax system. It needs fundamental reform,not new complications.

　　这些提议有着误导性。加强对企业的这些所谓的“转位”规则，却不能解释为什么这么多的企业想要离开：在富裕国家里，美国拥有最不正常的企业税制。它需要的是根本性的改革，而不是新的并发症。

　　America's corporate tax has two horrible flaws. The first is the tax rate, which at 35% is the highest among the 34 mostly rich-country members of the OECD. Yet it raises less revenue than the OECD average thanks to myriad loopholes and tax breaks aimed at everything from machinery investment to NASCAR race tracks. Last year these breaks cost $150 billion in forgone revenue, more than half of what America collected in total corporate taxes.

　　美国的企业税有两个可怕的漏洞。首先是税率，35%的税率是经合组织34个最富裕成员国中最高的。然而，它的收益却比经合组织的平均水平要低，这是由无数准备投入到 NASCAR赛道机械投资带来的漏洞和税收减免造成的。在去年损失的收入中，减免的税收就占了1500亿美元，超过美国征得的公司税总额的一半。