個人課税強化 高所得層狙い撃ちは筋が違う

年収５００万円の時代も１０００万円の時代も経験しました。
働けば働くほど損をするなって思いました。
早期退職した理由のひとつです。
（スラチャイ記）

The Yomiuri Shimbun (Dec. 16, 2010)
Tax reforms shouldn't aim only at the wealthy
個人課税強化　高所得層狙い撃ちは筋が違う（12月15日付・読売社説）

The government's Tax Commission has adopted a set of proposals for reviewing income, inheritance and other individual taxes that will be incorporated into an outline of tax reform plans for fiscal 2011.
　政府税制調査会は、２０１１年度税制改正大綱に盛り込む所得税や相続税など個人向け課税の見直し案を決めた。

The reforms would raise about 470 billion yen in revenue by reducing various tax deductions from personal income. We believe the deduction system--by which a certain amount is subtracted from each taxpayer's income to ease his or her tax burden--should be reconsidered, as the nation is in dire fiscal straits.
　個人の税負担を軽くするため、収入から一定額を差し引いている様々な控除の額を小さくして、国の税収を４７００億円ほど増やす内容だ。厳しい財政事情を考えれば、控除の見直し自体は必要な措置であろう。

It should be noted, however, that the proposed cuts in the tax deductions--a measure tantamount to increasing individual taxes--would target people in the higher income brackets nearly exclusively. This proposal can be regarded as an attempt to single out people who can pay higher taxes as the sole target of increased levies.
Doing so is not only unfair to taxpayers. The measure is bound to cause serious adverse effects, such as a decline in the morale of working taxpayers and the vitality of the nation's economy.
　しかし今回、「増税」の対象は高所得者に集中している。税金を負担する能力が高い層ばかりを狙い撃ちにしたやり方は、公平性を欠くだけでなく、人々の働く意欲や経済の活力を失わせる副作用が大きいと言わざるを得ない。

===

Lower deductions sought

The proposed imposition of greater taxes on high-income earners would be made possible by, for example, setting an upper limit on deductions for wage income--a scheme by which a certain amount of the salary earned by a corporate employee is deducted from his or her paycheck as necessary expenses recognized by the tax authorities.
　高所得者への課税強化は、例えば、会社員の給料の一定額を必要経費と見なして差し引く給与所得控除に上限を設定することだ。

The proposal would correct the current system, which increases the amount of deductions from individual corporate employees' salaries in proportion to their respective annual incomes. Instead, the plan would deduct the same amount from the salaries of anyone whose annual income exceeds 15 million yen.
　年収に応じて控除額が増える仕組みを改め、年収１５００万円超の人は控除額を一律にする。

This would be accompanied by even greater cuts in the deductions given to high-income corporate executives.
報酬が高い企業役員の控除額は、一般社員よりさらに圧縮する。

The proposed reforms would, as a rule, do away with deductions for people supporting dependent relatives aged 23 to 69 if their yearly income surpasses 6.89 million yen.
　また、２３～６９歳の親族を扶養する人に対する成年扶養控除は、年収が６８９万円を超えれば、原則として受けられなくなる。

Inheritance taxes also would be subject to the proposed changes. The reforms would introduce a 40 percent reduction in the basic deductions from inheritances, a move aimed at expanding the range of people subject to inheritance taxation.
　相続税も、遺産から差し引ける基礎控除額を現状より４割減らして、課税対象者を増やす。

An official of the government's key tax panel has said all these proposals are intended to rectify income disparities among individuals by enhancing the power of the current tax system to encourage income redistribution. However, we believe the panel is confident that high-income earners would be less strongly opposed to heavier taxation than low- and middle-income taxpayers.
　税調幹部は「所得再分配機能を強め、格差を是正するため」と説明する。だが、実際は、高所得者の方が中低所得者より課税強化への反発が少ないという現実を見越してのことではないか。

===

Tax burden already high

Admittedly, only 1 percent of salaried workers would shoulder a greater financial burden due to the proposed cuts in their employment income deductions under the reform plan. The proposed reform would affect only a modest 20 percent of taxpayers who are currently entitled to deductions for the support of adult dependents.
　負担が増えるのは、給与所得控除でサラリーマン全体の１％に過ぎず、成年扶養控除でも適用されている人の２割にとどまる。

However, the current tax burden imposed on high-income earners is hardly light. Take a family comprising a married couple with two children--if its annual income stands at 5 million yen, such a family pays 195,000 yen in income and resident taxes annually.
This compares with 1.13 million yen in similar taxes to be paid by a household that earns 10 million yen annually. This means the latter family, which earns twice as much as the former, must shoulder a tax burden close to six times greater.
　しかし、現在でも高所得者の負担が軽いとは言えまい。夫婦と子ども２人で年収５００万円の世帯は、所得税と住民税の負担が１９・５万円なのに対し、１０００万円の世帯は１１３万円だ。収入は２倍でも、負担額は６倍近い。

The current system imposes income taxes on families whose annual income is 3.25 million yen or more--a level of taxation higher than those in the United States, Britain, Germany and other industrialized powers.
　所得税が課される最低年収は３２５万円で、米英独などの先進各国を上回る水準だ。

Certainly, due consideration must be paid to low- and middle-income earners when it comes to tax reform. However, there is concern that tax reforms--if carried out in a manner that imposes greater burdens only on wealthy people--could produce negative effects.
Talented large-income earners could eventually leave Japan to work in low-tax countries, for example, despite their important role in supporting the nation's economy.
　中低所得者への配慮は必要だが、富裕層に負担増を求めるだけの税制改正では、日本経済を支える優秀で高収入の人材が税金の安い海外に流出する、といったマイナスの効果を生む恐れもある。

The panel's call for revisions to the deduction system can be regarded as an attempt to force high-income people to pick up the bill for massive government expenditures incurred through an increase in child-rearing allowances and other lavish handout policies and programs. The proposed measures will do little to fundamentally reform the tax system.
　今回の控除見直しは、子ども手当増額など、ばらまき政策のツケを高所得層に押し付けた形で、税制の抜本改革につながるものではない。

The government should immediately do what is needed to implement thorough tax reform, including an increase in the consumption tax. Doing so is essential to ensuring fair tax burdens.
公平な税負担を実現するためにも、消費税率引き上げなどに早急に取り組むべきであろう。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Dec. 15, 2010)
（2010年12月15日01時21分 読売新聞）