评论
打印
These 10 people represent everyone in America.
这10个人代表了美国的每一个人。
This person on the left — he represents the poorest 10 percent of Americans.
（最）左边的这个人代表了最贫穷的那10%的美国人。
And on the right — he is the very richest 10 percent.
而最右边的这个人代表的则是最富有的那10%的人口。
So let’s ask this group a simple question: What percentage of your income gets taxed?
现在，我们来问这群人一个简单的问题：你们的收入纳税比例是多少？
Most Americans pay multiple income taxes … to the federal government, and state governments, and local governments.
大多数美国人都要缴纳不止一种所得税：缴给联邦政府的、缴给州政府的，还有缴给地方政府的。
But a recent analysis by two economists added up all the income taxes.
但最近有两位经济学家做了一项分析，他们将所有这些所得税做了个统计。
And when you do that, the data shows that poor people pay a very small part of their income to the government.
结果数据显示，穷人向政府缴纳的税收只占他们收入的很小一部分。
And rich people pay more.
而有钱人缴税的税收占比更高。
This concept, of taxing the poor at a lower rate — and taxing the rich more… this is called: progressive taxation.
少征穷人的税，多征有钱人的税这一概念就是所谓的“累进税制”。
It’s how taxes work in most countries.
大多数国家采用的都是这种制度。
But it’s also why some critics question whether these people are getting away without paying their fair share:
但也正因为如此，一些批评人士开始质疑这些（相对较穷的）人是否钻了空子，税收制度是否便宜了他们：
The middle class and the poor that pay, if anything, a lot less.
中产阶级和穷人阶级缴的税，如果他们有缴税的话，要（比富人阶级缴纳的）少得多。”
Why is it that 45 percent of the population of this country is not contributing back to the rest?
“为什么这个国家45%的人口都没有回馈剩下（那55%）的人群？”
But now let’s add one more guy to this group of 10: This guy — he represents the 400 richest Americans. Billionaires.
这个问题我们先放一放，我们先往这10个人中间再插一个人：也就是这个人，而他代表的是全美国最富有的那400个人。也就是那些亿万富豪们。
Billionaires don’t make most of their money through typical income.
亿万富翁的钱大部分都不是通过普通的收入来源赚取的。
So their income actually gets taxed at lower rates than these less rich people.
所以，他们缴税的比例其实比这部分不如他们富裕的人要低。
Now, you might be thinking, don’t billionaires pay taxes in other ways?
此时，你可能会想，亿万富翁不会通过其他方式纳税吗？
And the answer is yes.
答案是肯定的。
This is just the income tax, and there are lots of other kinds of taxes in America.
这只是所得税，在美国还有很多其他税种。
And this analysis, where this data came from, it looked at all of those taxes.
而这项分析，也就是本次对比数据的出处，把所有这些税种都考虑进去了。
And it shows that, when we add them all up.
结果表明，当我们把所有这些税种都叠加到一起之后，
There actually is someone in this group who might not be paying their fair share.
这群人中确实有一些人可能捡了个便宜。
Let's go back to our first chart, with these 11 people.
让我们回到这张有11个人的第一张图。
Remember, this is just the income tax.
记住了，这张图只考虑了所得税。
What happens when we add in all the other taxes?
如果我们把所有税种都加进来，会发生什么呢？
Well, let’s look at another kind of tax: Corporate and property taxes.
我们先来看第二种税：企业税和财产税。
These are the taxes we pay on the things we own:
这是我们要为自己所有的东西缴纳的税：
Usually businesses, and property, and the money we make on them.
通常指的是我们开展的生意，拥有的财产以及我们靠这些生意和财产赚到的钱。
Usually, rich people own more things.
有钱人拥有的东西往往更多。
So these corporate and property taxes hit them the hardest.
所以，这些企业税和财产税对他们的打击最大。
Rich people also tend to be from rich families.
有钱人的家庭往往也比较有钱。
And when they inherit a lot of money, the government taxes them.
当他们从家人那里继承了很多钱以后，政府就会对他们征税。
This is called an estate tax.
这个税叫“遗产税”。
Put these taxes together, and it’s clear that they place a much heavier burden on the rich -- including billionaires.
把这三种税加到一起，很明显，它们给有钱人，包括那些亿万富豪造成的负担比给其他人造成的负担大得多。
Add these back onto the income taxes, and it looks like the rich really do pay way more than the poor.
这么看来，若把这三种税和所得税加到一起，有钱人缴的税似乎确实比穷人缴的税多得多。
But now let's talk about another tax.
接下来我们说说另一种税。
This one's buried in your paystub.
你的工资条就已经涵盖了这种税了。
Look closely, and you'll see something called a Medicare tax and a Social Security tax.
仔细看，你会发现“医疗税”和“社保税”这么两个东西。
Sometimes paystubs call them FICA.
有时候工资条上写的是FICA（联邦保险税）。
Anyway, combined, these are called payroll taxes.
总之，加在一起它们就成了所谓的“工资税”。
Medicare and Social Security are two really important programs:
医保和社保是两个非常重要的项目：
they provide health care and a modest income for when we get old and retire.
为的是在我们老了，退休了之后为我们的医疗和适当的收入提供保障。
But they’re also expensive.
但这些服务的成本也是非常高昂的。
Which is why we have these payroll taxes -- separate from the income tax -- to pay for them.
这也是我们为什么要缴纳这些工资税——区别于所得税——来为它们买单的原因。
So on your paycheck, you'll notice that you're taxed 7.65 percent in payroll taxes.
所以，你会发现，你的工资支票被抽走了7.65%的工资税。
And your company is supposed to pay another 7.65 percent on your behalf.
而你的公司还要以你的名义再缴纳7.65%。
But economists have found that, in practice,
但经济学家们发现，在现实生活中，
the way companies pay their part of the payroll tax is by just paying workers less.
公司会缩减员工的工资来弥补这部分支出。
So in reality, many workers pay nearly the full 15.3 percent toward this tax.
所以，很多员工几乎是自己缴纳了15.3%的工资税。
And everyone is on the hook for the same percentage.
而且每个人缴纳的比例都是一样的。
But the wealthy?
那么有钱人呢？
Once someone earns more than about $130,000 a year …
一个人一旦年收入超过了13万美元，
the money they make beyond that isn't subject to the Social Security tax.
那超过的那些钱是不用缴社保税的。
It's capped.
社保税是有天花板的。
That means the rich pay a really small portion of their income toward payroll taxes.
这就意味着有钱人缴纳的工资税只占他们收入的很小一部分。
And poor people and the middle class pay way more.
而穷人和中产阶级缴纳的比例要高得多。
Add payroll taxes onto the chart, and it starts to flatten out.
我们把工资税也加到这张表里，这时，曲线就开始变得平缓了。
The last type of taxes we’re going to look at are the taxes we pay when we buy stuff.
我们要讨论的最后一种税是我们买东西的时候要缴的税。
For example, let's say you're looking to buy a t-shirt.
比如，你想买一件T恤。
When you check out, you pay a sales tax, which is a percentage of its cost.
付款的时候，你还要付一笔消费税，金额是T恤价格的百分之几。
And sales taxes apply to most things: Furniture. Toilet paper. Laundry detergent.
大多数商品都有消费税：家具，厕纸，洗衣粉，统统都有。
For some items, like beer and gasoline,
有些类目，比如啤酒，汽油，
there are additional taxes that get incorporated into the price tag before you even get to the store.
甚至在你进店之前就已经把一些额外的税给你算到价签里了。
These are called consumption taxes.
这就是消费税。
And we all pay the same rate on the things we buy, regardless of how rich we are.
我们所有人，无论多富裕，为我们购买的商品支付的消费税的比例都是一样的。
You might think that, since rich people usually buy more things — and more expensive things…
你可能会觉得，有钱人通常买的东西更多也更贵，
they pay a larger percentage of their income toward these taxes.
他们缴纳的消费税应该占比更大一些。
But, relative to how much money they have,
问题是，跟他们拥有的钱相比，
the stuff they buy, and the taxes they pay on that stuff, take up a relatively small portion of their income.
他们买的那些东西，为那些东西支付的消费税，其实只占到了他们收入的很小一部分。
Meanwhile, everyone, even people with almost no money, needs to buy certain basic things to survive.
与此同时，所有人，甚至包括那些几乎身无分文的人，都需要购买部分生活必需品。
And for poor people, those basic things and the taxes that come with them cost them almost everything they earn.
而对穷人而言，这些基本用品以及它们附带的消费税几乎就已经花掉他们所有的钱了。
So if we chart how much of their income each of these people pays in consumption taxes...
所以，如果我们把这些人各自缴纳的消费税占据的收入比例算一下的话，
we can see that poor people pay a much larger portion.
我们会发现，穷人缴纳的消费税占据的收入比例远比有钱人高。
When we put these taxes together… Suddenly we see a big change.
我们把所有这些税都加到一起……一个很大的变化便映入了我们的眼帘。
The chart shows us that this line, from before, is a lie.
这张表告诉我们，之前的这条（曲）线其实是个谎言。
That America’s tax system as a whole, isn’t very progressive.
从整体上来看，美国的税收制度并不是累进式的！
Instead, it’s mostly flat.
反而几乎是恒平的。
Poor people pay about the same portion of their income in taxes as rich people.
穷人纳税的总比例和有钱人其实是差不多的。
And this guy — this billionaire — is paying a smaller portion than everyone else.
而这个家伙——这个亿万富豪啊——缴纳的税是比其他所有人都要少的。
Even the poorest.
甚至比最穷的人缴纳的都少。
If you look at just certain types of taxes,
如果你只关注某些税种，
it’s natural to assume that rich people pay a bigger tax burden in the US,
你自然而然就会觉得有钱人的税收负担更重一些，
and that poor people aren’t exactly paying their fair share.
穷人缴的税又不够多。
But a more complete look at the bigger picture, challenges that.
全面一点地着眼全局来看的话却并不是这样。
And it suggests that, if we’re looking for a group that isn’t paying their fair share, we might be looking on the wrong end.
这也告诉我们，如果我们要找那个纳税纳得不够多的人群的话，我们此前的目光怕是南辕北辙了。
