The fiscal response to Covid-19: 'Thinking big' on tax policy after the crisis

在全球范围内，应对COVID-19所需的空前公共支出之后，将不可避免地引发一场关于如何重建公共财政的辩论。与此同时，许多国家的政治家已经面临选民提出的影响深远的问题，即这场大流行病暴露出的社会结构裂缝正在扩大，因为以前的不平等现象正在扩大，公共服务已经达到极限。这些同时发生的对国家政治的冲击不可避免地促使人们在税收政策上“大胆思考”。甚至在当前的危机之前，就有广泛的呼声要求对英国的财富征税进行改革。到目前为止，这些提议的重点是改革现有的税收。然而，其他国家已经开始提出引入“财富税”的想法，这是一种对财富所有权（扣除债务）征收的新税。COVID-19迅速将这一想法推到了世界各地政治议程的更高位置，但现有的研究远远不能为政策制定者提供是否以及如何征收财富税的全面蓝图。批评人士指出了一些需要解决的合法问题。这样做公平吗？公众会支持吗？从经济角度来看，这种税收是否合理？你如何阻止最富有的人隐藏他们的资产？他们会直接离开吗？你如何评估一些资产的价值？那些拥有大量财富，却没有多少收入来支付财富税的人会发生什么？如果财富税是一个好主意，为什么许多国家放弃了它？这些都是重要的问题，没有直接的答案。英国政府上一次考虑征收财富税是在上世纪70年代中期。这也是英国学者和政策制定者最后一次认真考虑如何实施这种税收。在过去的半个世纪里，人们的流动性、税收体系的结构、数据的可用性、数字解决方案的范围和税务机关之间的协调都发生了很大的变化。因此，旧的计划不能“下架”。该项目将评估英国征收财富税是否可取和可行。我们将探讨以下三个主要研究问题：(1)财富税在原则上、经济上或其他方面是否合理？(2)财富税应该如何设计，包括税基的定义，以及估值和流动性等行政挑战的解决方案？(3)在不同的设计方案和特定的税率/门槛下，英国财富税的收入和分配效果会是什么？为了回答这些问题，我们将利用来自学术界、政策领域和法律实践的世界领先的税收政策出口网络。我们将研究国际经验，综合大量来自已经（或曾经）征收财富税的国家的现有研究。我们将通过新颖的研究来增加这些资源，这些研究将借鉴邻近的领域和学科，为实施财富税所面临的实际问题制定新的解决方案。我们还将讨论对财富税的普遍反对意见。这些新的见解将发表在一系列“证据论文”中，直接提供给公众和决策者。我们还将发布一份最终报告，向政府提出关键建议，并（如果合适的话）提供一个“准备立法”的财富税设计。我们不会建议具体的税率或起征点。相反，我们将创建一个在线“税收模拟器”，以便政策制定者和公众可以模拟不同方案的收入和分配效果。我们还将与国际伙伴合作，为其他国家关于财富税的辩论提供信息。

Around the world, the unprecedented public spending required to tackle COVID-19 will inevitably be followed by a debate about how to rebuild public finances. At the same time, politicians in many countries are already facing far-reaching questions from their electorates about the widening cracks in the social fabric that this pandemic has exposed, as prior inequalities become amplified and public services are stretched to their limits. These simultaneous shocks to national politics inevitably encourage people to 'think big' on tax policy.Even before the current crisis there were widespread calls for reforms to the taxation of wealth in the UK. These proposals have so far focused on reforming existing taxes. However, other countries have begun to raise the idea of introducing a 'wealth tax'-a new tax on ownership of wealth (net of debt). COVID-19 has rapidly pushed this idea higher up political agendas around the world, but existing studies fall a long way short of providing policymakers with a comprehensive blueprint for whether and how to introduce a wealth tax.Critics point to a number of legitimate issues that would need to be addressed. Would it be fair, and would the public support it? Is this type of tax justified from an economic perspective? How would you stop the wealthiest from hiding their assets? Will they all simply leave? How can you value some assets? What happens to people who own lots of wealth, but have little income with which to pay a wealth tax? And if wealth taxes are such a good idea, why have many countries abandoned them?These are important questions, without straightforward answers. The UK government last considered a wealth tax in the mid-1970s. This was also the last time that academics and policymakers in the UK thought seriously about how such a tax could be implemented. Over the past half century, much has changed in the mobility of people, the structure of our tax system, the availability of data, and the scope for digital solutions and coordination between tax authorities. Old plans therefore cannot be pulled 'off the shelf'.This project will evaluate whether a wealth tax for the UK would be desirable and deliverable. We will address the following three main research questions:(1) Is a wealth tax justified in principle, on economic or other grounds?(2) How should a wealth tax be designed, including definition of the tax base and solutions to administrative challenges such as valuation and liquidity?(3) What would be the revenue and distributional effects of a wealth tax in the UK, for a variety of design options and at specified rates/thresholds?To answer these questions, we will draw on a network of world-leading exports on tax policy from across academia, policy spheres, and legal practice. We will examine international experience, synthesising a large body of existing research originating in countries that already have (or have had) a wealth tax. We will add to these resources through novel research that draws on adjacent fields and disciplines to craft new solutions to the practical problems faced in delivering a wealth tax. We will also review common objections to a wealth tax.These new insights will be published in a series of 'evidence papers' made available directly to the public and policymakers. We will also publish a final report that states key recommendations for government and (if appropriate) delivers a 'ready to legislate' design for a wealth tax. We will not recommend specific rates or thresholds for the tax. Instead, we will create an online 'tax simulator' so that policymakers and members of the public can model the revenue and distributional effects of different options. We will also work with international partners to inform debates about wealth taxes in other countries.