Many Chinese consumers have always agreed that foreign cars are cheaper than Chinese cars. The reason behind it is nothing more than the word "tax".

　　In recent years, although car prices in the Chinese market have become cheaper, Ye Shengji, chief engineer and deputy secretary-general of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, said: "The overall tax burden on automobiles is heavier."

　　According to statistics, only in the purchase process, Chinese car owners have to pay at least 31% of taxes (including value-added tax 13%, purchase tax 10%, consumption tax 5%, etc.), while the United States is less than 10% (sales tax 2% to 8%). %), Japan is 7.5% (purchase tax 3%, and there is a weight tax, car tax). If you include the license fees in some cities where purchases are restricted (from 20,000 to 30,000 yuan to as much as 700,000 to 80,000 yuan), the purchase of imported cars will also be subject to 15% tariffs.

　　Regarding the tax burden of the auto industry, Ye Shengji believes that “the adjustment and reform of the tax and fee system of my country's auto industry cannot be delayed”. The following is his in-depth thinking on this issue:

　　Undoubtedly, taxation is a major and complex issue, and it is also a sensitive adjustment lever in the market economy, involving the distribution of interests in relevant social aspects, and balancing and coordinating the relationship between stakeholders. Promoting the reform of the industrial taxation policy system is of far-reaching significance to the construction of a new development pattern in which the domestic big cycle is the main body and the domestic and international double cycles promote each other. At the same time, automobile taxation is an important policy indispensable for guiding the healthy development of the automobile industry. The reform and adjustment of the automobile tax and fee system will have a major impact on the sustainable development of the automobile industry.

　　1. The "14th Five-Year Plan" outline clarifies the reform requirements of the tax and fee system

　　"The Fourteenth Five-Year Plan for the National Economic and Social Development of the People’s Republic of China and the Outline of Long-Term Goals for 2035" clearly stated that a modern fiscal, taxation and financial system should be established, and the role of finance as a foundation and important pillar in national governance should be better utilized. A fiscal, taxation and financial system that meets the requirements of high-quality development. Focus on supporting the stabilization of the manufacturing industry and consolidating the supply chain of the industrial chain. Adjust and optimize the scope and tax rate of the consumption tax, promote the backward movement of the collection link and steadily demarcate the locality.

　　2. There is a lot of room for improvement in the current auto industry tax system

　　The automobile industry is one of the important sources of national taxation. Looking at the tax system of my country's automobile industry, in addition to consumption tax, various taxes and fees are involved in the production, purchase, use, possession, import and export of automobiles. At present, my country's automobile tax and fee system is relatively complete, which has played a role in guiding, encouraging and adjusting the development of the automobile industry. However, the implementation situation also shows that there are obvious shortcomings in the current tax system of my country's automobile industry.

　　1. The overall automobile tax burden is heavier

　　In my country, the taxes that need to be paid directly from production, sales to use of an automobile product include: value-added tax, consumption tax, vehicle purchase tax, vehicle and vessel tax, refined oil consumption tax, etc. The indirect taxes are mainly paid by enterprises such as automobile production and sales. Urban maintenance and construction tax, education surcharge, local education surcharge, real estate tax, urban land use tax, stamp tax, corporate income tax, etc., and import duties on imported vehicles and parts are also subject to import duties.

　　Taking the purchase link as an example, Chinese car owners pay at least 31% of taxes (including value-added tax 13%, purchase tax 10%, consumption tax 5%, etc.), while the United States is less than 10% (sales tax 2%-8%). In Japan, it is 7.5% (purchase tax 3%, and weight tax, car tax). If you include the license fees in some cities where purchases are restricted (from 20,000 to 30,000 yuan to as much as 700,000 to 80,000 yuan), the purchase of imported cars will also be subject to 15% tariffs. On the whole, the tax burden is too high, which greatly increases the burden on buyers and is not conducive to automobile consumption.

　　2. The tax structure is unreasonable

　　From the perspective of collection links, my country’s auto purchase link has a higher tax burden, the use link is lower, and the retention link is the lowest. The tax burden ratios of these three stages are approximately 60%, 35%, and 5%. In Japan, the proportion of tax burden on automobile purchase, use and ownership is approximately 19%, 52% and 29%.

　　The result of this tax burden structure is: On the one hand, due to the relatively high tax burden in the purchase process, consumers have more psychological and economic burdens. In the case of one-time payment, consumers are very concerned about one-time purchases. Cost, the initiative to buy a car will be greatly affected. This impact can be reflected in the changes in the sales of cars with the corresponding displacement due to several reductions in the vehicle purchase tax; on the other hand, due to the lighter tax on the use link, users will overuse Automobiles further aggravate traffic congestion and are not conducive to energy conservation and environmental protection.

　　3. The tax system is relatively extensive

　　The main taxes in my country's automobile taxation, such as vehicle and vessel tax, consumption tax, etc., are still levied in stages according to the displacement of the automobile. Although the consumption tax applies different tax rates to passenger cars according to the size of the displacement, it widens the tax rate gap of passenger cars of different displacements, increases the tax burden of passenger cars with large displacement and high energy consumption, and relatively reduces the small displacement. The burden of measuring vehicles has not been directly linked to fuel consumption, so the efforts to promote energy conservation and emission reduction are limited.

　　In recent years, with the advancement of engine and transmission technology, some automobiles have adopted turbocharging, direct injection and other technologies and more energy-saving advanced transmission technology, although their engine displacement is relatively large, and their fuel consumption is even lower than that of displacement. Small car models. Therefore, it is obviously more scientific to promote energy conservation and emission reduction by using fuel consumption instead of engine displacement as the basis for taxation.

　　3. The auto tax system needs to keep pace with the times and develop scientifically

　　my country’s automobile tax system was basically established in the 1980s and 1990s. Although several adjustments have been made in recent years, they are all based on the fact that automobiles are luxury goods. Obviously, the purpose of automobile taxation is to restrain consumption to a considerable extent. Time has changed. Under the new situation, the original auto tax system can no longer adapt to the adjustment of economic growth mode and structure, actively expand domestic demand, promote auto consumption, and meet the needs of national economic development.

　　4. Learn from the experience of advanced countries and scientifically advance the reform of the automobile tax and fee system

　　Compared with developed countries and regions such as Europe, America and Japan, my country's automobile tax and fee system is relatively backward and has certain defects, such as lack of taxes, unreasonable tax regulations, and insufficient taxation functions. At present, it has not adapted to a large extent, and even restricted the development of my country's automobile industry. In order to promote the stable and healthy development of my country's automobile industry and stimulate the continuous growth of the national economy, it is necessary to re-understand the important impact of automobile tax and fee policies on the development of the automobile industry and the national economy from a top-level perspective, and propose a plan to improve my country's automobile tax and fee policies. Promote the adjustment and reform of the automobile tax and fee system.

　　5. Five suggestions for reforming the tax and fee system of the automobile industry

　　1. Promote and expand automobile consumption through reasonable and appropriate tax cuts

　　Almost all countries levy taxes on cars, but the starting point is different. At present, my country's automobile taxes and fees are still based on curbing automobile consumption as a starting point. The current automobile tax system still focuses on price and displacement as the main indicators, with control of purchase as the focus of the tax burden, and fiscal revenue as the main purpose of taxation. Although my country has become the world's largest automobile consumer market, the development level of the automobile industry still needs to be improved, and the international competitiveness is still quite weak. Therefore, it is necessary to vigorously develop the domestic automobile market to improve the level of the automobile industry.

　　The primary goal of auto tax reform should be to expand domestic auto consumption. Under the current circumstances, it is especially important to encourage domestic consumption as the primary goal. Tax reduction or exemption is a very direct and effective means of stimulating automobile consumption. Therefore, in the reform of the automobile tax system, it is still necessary to study and implement tax reduction and exemption policies.

　　2. Guided by energy conservation, emission reduction and low-carbon development, establish an automobile tax and fee system based on energy consumption or carbon emission reduction

　　At present, the United States, Europe, Japan and other developed countries and regions have adopted fuel consumption or carbon emission reduction as the basis for all or part of automobile taxation. Most EU member states also link automobile taxation to carbon dioxide emissions. In my country's automobile taxation, the main taxes such as vehicle and vessel tax and consumption tax are levied in stages based on the displacement of the automobile. Facts have proved that a large displacement does not necessarily have a high fuel consumption, and the displacement does not accurately reflect the fuel consumption.

　　Therefore, using fuel consumption or carbon emission reduction instead of engine displacement as the basis for taxation is obviously more scientific in promoting energy conservation and emission reduction. At the same time, to introduce fuel consumption or energy consumption factors into automobile-specific taxes, two taxes, purchase tax and consumption tax, can be considered.

　　3. Ensure total tax revenue and scientifically determine the central and local tax distribution

　　my country’s current taxation system originated from the 1994 reform of the tax-sharing system. The reform re-divided the central government and local governments' financial powers and powers, shifting financial powers upwards and downwards, which strengthened the central government’s macro-control capabilities. It can be said that the tax-sharing system reform adapted to the development of China's market economy at that time and played an important role in handling the relationship between the central and local governments, as well as the relationship between the government and enterprises. However, with the development of my country's economy and the continuous reform of taxation policies, the tax-sharing system has gradually produced some problems. For example, in the “reform from business tax” implemented in the past few years, value-added tax has become a shared tax between the central and local governments, and the local government has no business tax as the main source of tax, which has caused local government finances to be tight. Therefore, in the future tax system reform, the central and local tax distribution should be scientifically determined on the premise of maintaining the overall stability of the current fiscal structure, and local revenue expectations should be stabilized. Local governments have stable and reliable financial resources to better provide Public Service.

　　4. Adjust tax categories and merge tax categories to establish a modern new automobile tax system

　　The establishment of a modern new type of automobile tax and fee system must focus on long-term development, constantly improve the automobile tax system, give full play to the leverage of taxation, establish and improve a fiscal and taxation system that is conducive to scientific development, and comprehensively and systematically sort out the current automobile taxes in China, and make sure to purchase and maintain automobiles. , Carry out scientific analysis and evaluation of the main tax types and tax burden levels in the use link, adjust or merge tax types with duplicate functions, and gradually form an automobile tax system that encourages automobile consumption and guides economical use, and promotes energy conservation, emission reduction and the popularization of new energy vehicles. Tax incentive policies are used to promote the transformation of development mode from investment-driven to domestic demand-driven, and promote energy conservation, emission reduction and sustainable industrial development.

　　5. The most prominent problem with automobile consumption tax, the industry looks forward to adjustments as soon as possible

　　Automotive is a major taxpayer of consumption tax. Automobile consumption tax is an in-price tax. The collection process is in the production process and is paid by the vehicle manufacturer in advance. It takes up a large amount of corporate liquidity and affects the normal operation of the company to a certain extent. Consumers cannot intuitively understand the tax burden. For this reason, the collection link should be changed from the production link to the consumption link as soon as possible, and from the original in-price tax to out-of-price tax, which directly reflects the purpose of taxation and helps guide consumption. At the same time, it is determined that part of the consumption tax will be retained by the local area so that the local government can benefit from the collection of consumption tax. This will help the local government to reverse the traditional practice of focusing on investment and neglecting consumption, strengthening the local government to strengthen the construction of transportation infrastructure, and encouraging and promoting automobile consumption.

　　The consumption tax items are gradually moved to the wholesale or retail link for collection, which will help enterprises to better invest funds in technology and product innovation, help expand local sources of income, and guide local governments to pay more attention to and improve the business environment and consumption environment, and promote Domestic demand is growing.

　　It is true that to comprehensively reform the current automobile tax and fee system is a major event. It needs to be combined with China’s national conditions and systematically scientifically demonstrated, it needs to study and learn from the experience of advanced countries, it needs to be progressive, active and stable. However, the situation is urgent and compelling. It is time to implement the strategy of expanding domestic demand, comprehensively promote consumption, promote the sustainable development of the automobile industry, and accelerate the reform and adjustment of the automobile industry's tax system.