中英对照 | 巴菲特建言政府：停止娇惯富豪多收税

科学百姓 雨台 scitizen-editor@outlook.com 2021.1.1

停止娇惯富豪吧

国家领导人号召大家 "共同承担牺牲"。但当他们提出这样的要求时，他们却放过了我。我有向我的超级富豪朋友们打听会让他们承担什么痛苦。他们说他们也没有受影响。

OUR leaders have asked for “shared sacrifice.” But when they did the asking, they spared me. I checked with my mega-rich friends to learn what pain they were expecting. They, too, were left untouched.

当穷人和中产阶级在阿富汗为我们作战时，当大多数美国人在为生计而用力时，我们这些超级富豪却继续得到给我们安排的超好税收优惠。我们中的一些人是投资基金经理，从每天做工中就赚取了数以十亿计的收入，但却可以把收入算作 "结利收入"，从而只需付15%的优惠税率（译者注：结率收入英文是 Carried Interest，指的是基金投资经理从操作的其他人的投资收入中分得一定的百分比）。还有些人买了股指期货只做工10分钟，好像他们是长期投资者一样，可以把60%的收益按15%的税率交税。

While the poor and middle class fight for us in Afghanistan, and while most Americans struggle to make ends meet, we mega-rich continue to get our extraordinary tax breaks. Some of us are investment managers who earn billions from our daily labors but are allowed to classify our income as “carried interest,” thereby getting a bargain 15 percent tax rate. Others own stock index futures for 10 minutes and have 60 percent of their gain taxed at 15 percent, as if they’d been long-term investors.

这些等等税率惠顾是华盛顿的立法者的给我们富豪的康康赐予，他们觉得必须保护我们，就像我们是被发现的猫头鹰或其他濒危动物一样。有高官朋友真是好啊。

These and other blessings are showered upon us by legislators in Washington who feel compelled to protect us, much as if we were spotted owls or some other endangered species. It’s nice to have friends in high places.

去年我的联邦税单，即我支付的所得税，以及由我支付的工资税，是6,938,744美元。这听起来是一笔很大的钱。但我支付的只是我应该纳税的收入的17.4%。这个税率实际上比我们办公室其他20人支付的比例都要低。他们的税负从33%到41%不等，平均为36%。

Last year my federal tax bill — the income tax I paid, as well as payroll taxes paid by me and on my behalf — was $6,938,744. That sounds like a lot of money. But what I paid was only 17.4 percent of my taxable income — and that’s actually a lower percentage than was paid by any of the other 20 people in our office. Their tax burdens ranged from 33 percent to 41 percent and averaged 36 percent.

如果你像我的一些超级富豪朋友一样，用钱赚钱，你的纳税税率可能会比我还低一些。但如果你是靠工作赚钱，你的纳税税率肯定会超过我，很可能会超出我很多。

If you make money with money, as some of my super-rich friends do, your percentage may be a bit lower than mine. But if you earn money from a job, your percentage will surely exceed mine — most likely by a lot.

要了解其中原因，你需要考察一下政府收入的来源。去年，政府税收中约有80%来自个人所得税和工资税。超级富豪们的大部分收入是按15%的税率缴纳所得税，但他们几乎不缴纳工资税（译者注：这里说到是富豪们的收入基本不是工资收入）。对于中产阶级来说，情况就不一样了：通常他们属于15%或25%的所得税档次，此外还有沉重的工资税。

To understand why, you need to examine the sources of government revenue. Last year about 80 percent of these revenues came from personal income taxes and payroll taxes. The mega-rich pay income taxes at a rate of 15 percent on most of their earnings but pay practically nothing in payroll taxes. It’s a different story for the middle class: typically, they fall into the 15 percent and 25 percent income tax brackets, and then are hit with heavy payroll taxes to boot.

早在20世纪80年代和90年代，富人的税率要高得多，我的税率处于他们享有的税率当中。根据我有时听到的一种理论，我应该为税率高大发雷霆，拒绝投资，因为资本收益和股息的税率提高了。

Back in the 1980s and 1990s, tax rates for the rich were far higher, and my percentage rate was in the middle of the pack. According to a theory I sometimes hear, I should have thrown a fit and refused to invest because of the elevated tax rates on capital gains and dividends.

然而我没有拒绝投资，其他人也没有。我与投资者交往了60年，我还没有看到任何投资者，即使在1976-77年资本收益税率为39.9%的时候，会因为潜在收益的税率而对一项明智的投资望而却步。人们投资是为了赚钱，潜在的税收从未吓跑他们。而对于那些认为较高的税率会影响创造就业的人，我想指出，1980年至2000年的高税率期间，净增加了约4000万个工作岗位。你知道从那时起发生了什么：税率降低了，创造的就业岗位大大减少了。（译者注：最近20年的工作职位净增只有不到1000万。）

I didn’t refuse, nor did others. I have worked with investors for 60 years and I have yet to see anyone — not even when capital gains rates were 39.9 percent in 1976-77 — shy away from a sensible investment because of the tax rate on the potential gain. People invest to make money, and potential taxes have never scared them off. And to those who argue that higher rates hurt job creation, I would note that a net of nearly 40 million jobs were added between 1980 and 2000. You know what’s happened since then: lower tax rates and far lower job creation.

自1992年以来，国税局汇编了400名报税收入最高的美国人的数据。1992年，收入最高的400人的总的应纳税收入为169亿美元，支付29.2%的联邦税率。2008年，收入最高的400人的总收入已飙升至909亿美元，平均没人达到惊人的2.274亿美元，但缴纳的税率已降至21.5%。

Since 1992, the I.R.S. has compiled data from the returns of the 400 Americans reporting the largest income. In 1992, the top 400 had aggregate taxable income of $16.9 billion and paid federal taxes of 29.2 percent on that sum. In 2008, the aggregate income of the highest 400 had soared to $90.9 billion — a staggering $227.4 million on average — but the rate paid had fallen to 21.5 percent.

我这里所说的税种只包括联邦所得税，但你可以肯定，与收入总额相比，这400人的任何工资税都是无足轻重的。事实上，2008年400人中有88人根本就没有报工资，不过他们每个人都报了资本收益。虽然我们这些弟兄们可能不愿工作，但他们都喜欢投资。(我自己可以体会到)。

The taxes I refer to here include only federal income tax, but you can be sure that any payroll tax for the 400 was inconsequential compared to income. In fact, 88 of the 400 in 2008 reported no wages at all, though every one of them reported capital gains. Some of my brethren may shun work but they all like to invest. (I can relate to that.)

我很了解许多富豪，大体上，他们都是正派人人士。他们热爱美国，感谢这个国家给了他们机会。许多人都加入了 "捐赠誓言"，承诺将他们的大部分财富捐给慈善事业（译者注：这是盖茨和巴菲特发起的运动）。大多数人也不介意被要求多交税，特别是当他们的许多同胞真正在受苦的时候。

I know well many of the mega-rich and, by and large, they are very decent people. They love America and appreciate the opportunity this country has given them. Many have joined the Giving Pledge, promising to give most of their wealth to philanthropy. Most wouldn’t mind being told to pay more in taxes as well, particularly when so many of their fellow citizens are truly suffering.

12名国会议员很快将承担起重新安排国家财政的重要工作。他们被要求着手制定一个计划，将10年的赤字至少减少1.5万亿美元。然而，至关重要的是，他们应该做得比这个目标多得多。美国人正在迅速失去对国会处理我国财政问题能力的信心。只有立刻的、真实的、和非常实质性的行动，才能防止人们的疑虑蜕变为无望。而无望的感觉可以导致无望的现实。

Twelve members of Congress will soon take on the crucial job of rearranging our country’s finances. They’ve been instructed to devise a plan that reduces the 10-year deficit by at least $1.5 trillion. It’s vital, however, that they achieve far more than that. Americans are rapidly losing faith in the ability of Congress to deal with our country’s fiscal problems. Only action that is immediate, real and very substantial will prevent that doubt from morphing into hopelessness. That feeling can create its own reality.

这12位议员的首要工作是削减一些即使是富裕的美国也无法兑现的未来承诺，从这儿必须省下大钱。然后，12号应该专注于增加政府收入的问题。如果是我的话，我会保持99.7%的纳税人的税率不变，并继续目前降低雇员缴纳的工资税2个百分点的安排。这一减税措施帮助了穷人和中产阶级，他们需要每一个增加收入的机会。

Job one for the 12 is to pare down some future promises that even a rich America can’t fulfill. Big money must be saved here. The 12 should then turn to the issue of revenues. I would leave rates for 99.7 percent of taxpayers unchanged and continue the current 2-percentage-point reduction in the employee contribution to the payroll tax. This cut helps the poor and the middle class, who need every break they can get.

但对于那些收入超过100万美元的人 —— 2009年有236883个这样的家庭 —— 我会立即提高应纳税收入的100万美元之上的部分的税率，当然包括股息和资本收益。而对于那些收入1千万美元或以上的人 —— 2009年有8,274个 —— 我建议再增加一档税率。

But for those making more than $1 million — there were 236,883 such households in 2009 — I would raise rates immediately on taxable income in excess of $1 million, including, of course, dividends and capital gains. And for those who make $10 million or more — there were 8,274 in 2009 — I would suggest an additional increase in rate.

我和我的富豪朋友们，被一个对亿万富翁友好的国会宠爱得够久了。现在是我们的政府把共同牺牲当真的时候了。

My friends and I have been coddled long enough by a billionaire-friendly Congress. It’s time for our government to get serious about shared sacrifice.

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参考资料链接

1. Stop Coddling the Super-Rich. 纽约时报, 2011.08