This year's government work report pointed out that my country's domestic demand has great potential, and it is necessary to deepen supply-side structural reforms, highlight the people's livelihood orientation, and effectively combine and promote each other to boost consumption and expand investment. The auto industry is in a period of industrial transformation and adjustment. Superimposed on the impact of this year's new crown pneumonia epidemic, it is more urgent and necessary to boost auto consumption than in the previous two years. This has also become the focus of this year's National People's Congress and National People's Congress proposals and suggestions.

The most noteworthy among them is that Xu Liuping, Chairman and Party Secretary of FAW Group, Li Shufu, Chairman of Geely Holding Group, and Wang Fengying, President of Great Wall Motors, three representatives of the National People’s Congress proposed to change the consumption tax and purchase tax to the central and local shared tax to increase Local governments are enthusiastic about stabilizing and expanding auto consumption. Only by allowing local governments to enjoy more tax dividends from the automobile consumption link can the current phenomenon of "actively attracting investment while suppressing automobile consumption" be changed.

However, during the interview, a reporter from China Auto News found that many experts in the field of economics and taxation did not fully agree with this. The level of economic development in various regions in my country differs greatly, and central taxation plays a role in macro-control to a certain extent. The overall planning and distribution is used to support the construction of transportation infrastructure in various regions, and the decentralization and sharing of consumption tax and purchase tax may further widen the gap between various regions. At the same time, when the two types of taxes have local attributes, local protection tends to occur in the process of local governments formulating policies to promote automobile consumption. Liu Rui, a professor at the School of Applied Economics of Renmin University of China, said in an interview with a reporter from China Auto News that how to reform consumer taxation, how to distribute it, and the effect of implementation requires careful research and judgment and careful decision-making.

Two-tax sharing has limited actual supplementary effect to local governments

Li Shufu pointed out: "At the moment, governments at all levels must really live a tight life, and this increased revenue will obviously effectively ease the pressure on local governments." At present, local governments have indeed benefited little from the taxation of automobile consumption. Li Shufu suggested that half of the auto consumption tax and vehicle purchase tax that were decentralized to local governments are both national taxes, and they are also the "biggest" auto consumption tax except for the vehicle value-added tax (central and local shared tax, national tax 75%, local tax 25%).

According to Li Shufu’s calculations, in 2019, my country’s automobile manufacturing industry’s annual consumption tax exceeded 90 billion yuan, accounting for 8% of the total consumption tax revenue. The total vehicle purchase tax revenue in the same year was 349.8 billion yuan. If half of the profits are transferred to local governments, It can increase local fiscal revenue by nearly 220 billion yuan. In Li Shufu's view, there is still a lot of room for growth in automobile production and sales in the next ten years. According to the calculations of relevant departments, my country's automobile production and sales are expected to reach about 35 million vehicles by 2030, and local governments can also make more profits in terms of automobile consumption tax collection. many.

In fact, as early as 2019, the fiscal revenues of local governments have already shown greater pressure. Public data shows that my country's local fiscal self-sufficiency rate in 2019 was only 49.7%. In other words, nearly half of fiscal expenditures need to rely on central transfer payments, debt revenue, and government funds. The fiscal self-sufficiency rates of different provinces and municipalities are severely divided. In response to the epidemic this year, the fiscal expenditures of the central and local governments have increased significantly compared with last year, and the fiscal pressure can be imagined. But as Li Shufu said, as long as the partial decentralization of automobile purchase tax and consumption tax is realized, can the local government generate up to 220 billion yuan in revenue?

First of all, although the vehicle purchase tax is included in the scope of central taxation, in fact, as early as 2014, my country issued the "Interim Measures for the Administration of Vehicle Purchase Tax Revenue to Subsidy Local Funds", and subsequently issued a supplementary notice, the central fiscal "pocket" The vehicle purchase tax in the city will be issued to the local governments in the form of subsidies every year for the construction of expressways, ordinary national and provincial roads, "four good rural roads" and highway passenger and freight hub construction. For example, at the end of 2019, the central government issued 4.485 billion yuan in advance of the vehicle purchase tax revenue in Fujian Province to subsidize local funds.

Second, the actual supplementary effect of consumption tax on local income is relatively weak. Guotai Junan analysis pointed out that one of the reasons is the current total transfer payment from the central government to local governments, that is, the amount of tax refund depends on the tax revenue transferred from the local government to the central government. If the consumption tax is steadily decentralized to the local government, the central tax refund will be partially reduced. In the end, the supplementary effect of local taxation may be positive and negative; second, the "Promotion Plan for Adjusting the Division of Central and Local Revenues after Implementing Larger Tax Cuts and Fees" issued by the State Council before proposed: "The approved base of the stock of reform and adjustment. In principle, the local government will dissolve the central government. In principle, the incremental part will belong to the local government to ensure that the existing financial resources of the central and local governments are stable.” Therefore, the incremental part of local tax revenue may be relatively limited in the short term. To be verified.

Whether it can boost local enthusiasm for consumption is controversial

Although the actual supplementary effect of local taxation may be limited, for the auto industry, the more important significance of delegating purchase tax and consumption tax to the local area is to increase the enthusiasm of local governments to promote automobile consumption. This is also regarded as a solution to the restriction on automobile purchases. Good medicine. “The main source of local government tax revenue is the capital-intensive, technology-intensive, and industrial chain long-term projects such as automobiles that can greatly promote the economy.” Dong Yang, former executive vice president of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, said bluntly, my country’s existing The tax system of China has led to an abnormally heavy taxation of automobile production and an abnormally light taxation of consumption links. This has created a strange phenomenon in which local governments are enthusiastically attracting investment from auto companies while relentlessly suppressing automobile consumption.

According to industry experts, after the outbreak of the new crown pneumonia epidemic at the beginning of this year, several major domestic automobile production provinces and cities have introduced policies to stimulate automobile consumption. The root cause of the phenomenon is that local governments have less tax on automobile consumption, and there is insufficient motivation to stimulate automobile consumption and improve the consumption environment. Wu Wei, Director of the Industry Development Department of the National Development and Reform Commission, said: “Including consumption tax, most of the tax sources in the automobile industry in my country are concentrated in the production process, and they are all central taxes. Only when the benefits of consumption tax are distributed to local governments can local governments have Enthusiasm takes practical actions to promote and encourage automobile consumption."

However, Liu Rui is not in favor of raising the enthusiasm of local governments to stimulate automobile consumption through the post-shift collection of automobile consumption tax and purchase tax, thereby promoting the liberalization of purchase restrictions. “It’s better to use a direct administrative order to require the local government to release restrictions on car purchases and traffic. It’s more simple and effective.” Liu Rui pointed out that given the tight local finances this year, even if local taxes are increased In addition to part of the vehicle purchase tax and consumption tax, local governments may not use this part of the increased taxation to improve the automobile consumption environment.

Su Ming, the former deputy director of the Institute of Finance of the Ministry of Finance, also said that before discussing the distribution of automobile consumption taxation, the purpose of local government purchase restrictions should be clarified. Whether the taxation of automobile consumption links is allocated to the local government is not directly related to the purchase restriction. “China’s cities are large in scale, with a large number of people and vehicles, causing urban traffic congestion and serious pollution. No matter how the traffic plan is continuously improved, it will not keep up with the increase in congestion.” Su Ming said that the localization of automobile consumption taxation cannot solve the congestion problem, and it is more important than purchase restrictions. There is no necessary connection.

However, Liu Rui suggested that the pilot work of tax decentralization can be carried out in some cities first, and the subsequent development direction can be determined after seeing the actual effect.

Weakening the role of the central government to benefit poor areas

"The reform of the fiscal and taxation system has become the key to the current mode of transformation and structural adjustment. It is the general trend." However, Wang Xiaoming, a researcher at the China Innovation Strategy and Policy Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, emphasized in an interview with "China Automobile News" that the tax system reform affects the whole body. , Need to proceed step by step and consider all aspects.

This is indeed the case. How to ensure the benefits of the automobile industry while preventing the "wandering" and "smelling" of consumption tax decentralization is a topic worthy of discussion and research.

Some analysts have suggested that the partial allocation of automobile consumption tax to local governments may lead to the rise of new local protectionism. For example, when collecting vehicle purchase tax or consumption tax, local and non-locally produced cars are treated differently. The land replenishment for new energy vehicles that has been implemented for many years is a lesson from the past. During this year's epidemic, many of the auto consumption stimulus policies introduced in many places across the country only provided preferential subsidies for locally produced cars.

Allocating part or all of automobile consumption tax to local governments will also weaken the overall planning role of the "national chess game" to a certain extent. Obviously, the decentralization of automobile consumption tax benefits more from the first- and second-tier automobile consumption major cities, but in fact, the road construction in these areas is relatively complete. On the contrary, it is in some western cities with sparsely populated areas. The automobile consumption market is smaller but more important. Need to carry out transportation infrastructure construction. The Supplementary Notice of the "Interim Measures for the Administration of Local Funds for Subsidy on Vehicle Purchase Tax Revenues" issued by multiple departments before clarified that highway construction projects located in the deeply impoverished "three states" (Liangshan, Nujiang, and Linxia) enjoy a higher subsidy ratio.

In addition, an industry insider who asked not to be named pointed out that according to the current automobile consumption tax levy rules, traditional fuel vehicles are levied according to different displacements. The larger the displacement, the higher the tax rate. If half of the automobile consumption tax is delegated to local governments, it does not rule out the possibility of local governments introducing policies to restrict small-displacement cars and encourage the consumption of large-displacement cars in order to obtain more taxes. Therefore, the person proposed that under the current tax system, the adjustment of automobile consumption tax distribution should not be carried out separately, and should be supplemented by other supporting policies or the overall reform of the tax system, and at the same time coordinate with the adjustment of the industrial structure, otherwise it will become a "headache". Treating the head and feet hurts and treating the feet", while solving the old problems, a series of new problems have arisen.

Taxation methods and proportions are in urgent need of reform

It is not difficult to see that adjusting the tax distribution of automobile consumption is not as simple as imagined. In order to better play its role in promoting the development of the automobile industry, Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the National Passenger Car Market Information Joint Council, suggested that if the automobile consumption tax is divided To be classified as a local tax, the current method of levying must be changed. Only by moving the collection of consumption tax from the current production link to the consumption link at the same time can the phenomenon of "emphasizing production and neglecting consumption" be truly changed by local governments.

From the perspective of automobile manufacturers, Li Shufu mentioned that the transfer of consumption tax collection from the current production link to the sales link, the central and local "five-five-year sharing", can also reduce the large occupation of liquidity of production enterprises, which is beneficial to enterprises. Invest funds well in technological innovation and product research and development to promote the high-quality development of the automotive industry.

"In order to stimulate the enthusiasm of local governments, we should learn from the successful experience in the construction of local tax systems in developed countries, and appropriately delegate the tax legislative power of local taxes." Professor Zhang Dongmei of the School of Economics of Minzu University of my country analyzed the location and resources of 31 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions in China There are obvious differences in industries and cultures, and significant differences in local tax sources. In order to balance the interests of all regions and all ethnic groups, under the transparent revenue budget system supported by real-time monitoring of information technology, the optimal decision of local governments is to adjust the tax structure. In order for local governments to have the motivation and enthusiasm to levy local taxes and taxes suitable for their jurisdictions, and cultivate local main taxes, the central government should consider opening up new tax sources and levying new local tax powers for local (provincial) levels.

Zheng Chaoyu, a professor of economics at Renmin University of China, said in an interview that the central government will delegate more tax power to local governments, which can provide a more open and free market environment for the prosperity and development of the auto industry. He also proposed that in the process of tax reform Should try to avoid direct intervention in the technical route, avoid preference for specific technologies or products, so that the market has more dominance.

In addition to balancing the central and local taxes, the current domestic automobile tax rate setting is unreasonable. The tax burden on the purchase link is relatively heavy, while the fuel fee and vehicle tax burden on the use link is relatively light, which is just like in developed countries. in contrast.

It is understood that developed countries usually adopt light tax policies in the car purchase process. For example, the vehicle purchase tax in the United States is a local tax, and the proportion charged by each state is different. The highest state is only about 6%, while Europe only levies value-added tax. "In order to avoid traffic and environmental pollution problems while encouraging car consumption, we should reduce the proportion of taxation in the car consumption link, while increasing the tax and fee in the use link, so as to build a more scientific and reasonable tax system." The person said.

National conditions and local conditions are the premise

Adjusting the tax distribution can not "shoot the forehead"

When many people talk about China’s current auto tax system, they compare it with developed countries in the auto industry such as the United States, Japan, and Europe. However, as Du Fangci, a consultant of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, said, the high and low taxes are relative. When making comparisons, consideration should be given to the development status of my country's automobile industry and the national tax system. Similarly, in the process of reforming automobile taxation, we must avoid "usage ism" and copy foreign taxation systems.

Take the vehicle purchase tax as an example. The vehicle purchase tax in the United States is a state tax, and different states will provide different preferential policies for automobile taxes and fees for environmental protection or other considerations. This is mainly because the United States is a federal country and the state economies are relatively independent. Therefore, auto taxation can only be decentralized to the state governments, allowing them to make the most of the taxation tool to better develop the local economy. However, the greater the power, the greater the responsibility. When states are carrying out the management of the automobile industry, they have to solve more problems on their own. The federal government seldom plays the role of "major" to provide help or support.

The situation in China is completely different. my country’s vehicle purchase tax is a central tax, and it has always played an important role in road construction. Especially when the development of various regions is uneven, the central distribution can better reflect the advantages of overall planning and layout.

If you learn from the United States and completely decentralize the vehicle purchase tax to local governments, it will easily lead to the lack of sufficient funds to improve transportation infrastructure in rural and low-tier cities that need more road construction funds due to sluggish local car consumption. Poor use environment will be even more unfavorable to expand the local automobile consumer market, forming a vicious circle. In contrast, more developed cities will further promote the improvement of the automobile consumer market and the transportation environment due to ample funds, which will eventually cause the gap between the "rich and the poor" to become more and more obvious, leading to polarization. More importantly, convenient transportation is regarded as the key for people in poverty-stricken areas to get rid of poverty and get rich. The backward road transportation facilities will further hinder the economic development of these areas.

Of course, as Li Shufu, a representative of the National People's Congress and chairman of Geely Holding Group, said, dividing a certain percentage of the vehicle purchase tax to local governments can increase the local governments' enthusiasm and initiative in promoting automobile consumption and improving the environment for automobile use. For China, which is on the road with coordinated technology routes, the urgency and necessity of local governments to improve road transportation infrastructure will be far greater than in the past. The transfer of vehicle purchase tax can obviously alleviate the financial pressure of local governments in this regard. However, how to divide and how much is an important topic that needs to be carefully studied. It is necessary to ensure that while benefiting local governments, the central government can still play the role of "a game of chess in the country". After all, China ranks third in the world in terms of land area. The progress of road construction is different, and many remote places still need real money from the central government to provide support for the improvement of local road conditions.

Therefore, the tax reform on the automobile consumption side is by no means a simple one-shot. This requires careful study by the national taxation department and setting a relatively simple but scientific and reasonable distribution ratio.

The author believes that as long as the establishment of a tax system with the characteristics of China's auto industry on the basis of full consideration of China's national conditions and geography, it can provide more impetus to the healthy development of the auto industry and realize the dream of becoming a powerful automobile nation as soon as possible.