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AMT Would Hit 60m US Taxpayers Without Patch For 2012美替代性最低税将冲击到6000万名纳税人

导言：如果美国国会不能延期传统的替代最低税的补丁条款，那么将近6000万名纳税人可能因此受到影响。

A letter from Steven Miller, the Acting Commissioner of the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to the House Of Representatives Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Sander Levin (D -Michigan) has disclosed that, if Congress fails to extend the traditional Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) patch, approximately 60m taxpayers could be affected.

史蒂文·米勒（Steven Miller）是美国国税局(IRS)的代理专员，他在与众议院筹款委员会（House Of Representatives Ways and Means Committee）的高级成员列文(Sander Levin,密歇根州)的通信中透露，如果国会不能延期传统的替代最低税的补丁条款（被称为AMT patch），那么将近6000万名纳税人可能会因此受到影响。“Congress must act now to address our unfinished business and give certainty to middle-class families by extending this expiring relief,”said Levin. “There is no reason Congress does not act on a bipartisan basis as it has in the past to fix the AMT. The consequences of inaction would be enormous for millions of middle class taxpayers. Extending AMT relief will prevent a substantial and unexpected tax increase on millions of Americans.”

列文表示，“国会必须现在就采取行动来解决我们未完成的任务，延期即将到期的援助计划来给中产阶级家庭以确定性。国会没有理由不站在两党的立场上来采取行动，像过去那样来修复替代性最低税。不作为的后果对于数百万的中产阶级纳税人来说无疑会造成巨大的影响。延期替代性最低税能够防止实质性和意想不到的税收重压到数百万美国人身上。”

The 26% AMT, or 28% on higher incomes, applies to individual taxpayers with incomes above specific thresholds. For many years, Miller wrote, Congress has been enacting "patches" to index these income thresholds for inflation in order to prevent millions of taxpayers from being subject to the AMT. The last such patch expired on December 31, 2011.

替代性最低税的税率为26%，对于高收入者则缴纳28%的税收，这项税收适用于收入高于特定阈值的个别纳税人。米勒在信中写道，多年来美国的国会一直颁布补丁条款根据通胀确定收入的阈值，使数百万的纳税

人免于缴纳替代性最低税。过去这样的补丁条款在2011年12月31日到期。

More specifically, for tax year 2011, the AMT exemption amount (as indexed for inflation) was USD48,450 for individuals and USD74,450 for married taxpayers filing jointly. Because of these thresholds, only about 4m taxpayers paid AMT for tax year 2011. Under current law, however, the thresholds revert to much lower levels for 2012 -

USD33,750 for individuals and USD45,000 for married taxpayers filing jointly. At these levels, approximately 33m taxpayers would pay AMT for tax year 2012 (with returns filed in the spring of 2013).

更具体地说，2011年个人的替代性最低税的免税金额（根据通胀而定）为48450美元，已婚纳税人联合申报的免税金额为74450美元。因为这些阈值的存在，2011年只有400万名纳税人支付了替代性最低税。然而根据目前的法律，这些阈值恢复到2012年的较低的水平，个人需缴纳33750美元的替代性最低税，联合申报的已婚纳税人需缴纳45000美元。依照这一水平，2012年大约有3300万名纳税人需要支付替代性最低税（2013年春可申请恢复到之前的水平）。

In addition, however, the AMT patch has historically been accompanied by a special tax credit ordering rule that applies to all taxpayers claiming certain tax credits - whether they owe AMT or not. Taken together, the changes to the AMT exemption amount and the special tax credit ordering rules could affect more than 60m - nearly half of all of those filing individual income tax returns.

此外，替代性最低税的补丁条款一直有一个特殊的税收抵免排序规则，它适用于要求特定税收抵免的所有纳税人，不管纳税人是否需要交纳替代性最低税。总之，替代性最低税的免税金额的改变以及特殊的税收抵免的排序规则将影响到超过6000万名纳税人，其中几乎一半的纳税人将申请个人所得税纳税申报表。

Miller pointed out that, in the most recent years - 2007 and 2010 -when Congress allowed the AMT patch to lapse for more than 11 months, and then retroactively reinstated it, the IRS was provided with bipartisan, bicameral assurances that Congress was working to enact a patch. The IRS, in turn, made a risk-based decision to leave its systems programmed assuming that Congress would again enact extensions.

米勒指出，在2007年到2010年这几年中，国会允许替代性最低税的补丁条款失效超过了11个月，然后又恢复了这项条款，国会向美国国税局

保证两党、两院正在努力制定这一补丁条款。美国国税局做出了一个带有风险的决定，就是假定国会再次实施延期计划，那么将保留系统的编程。

He disclosed that, consistent with that past practice, he has instructed IRS staff again this year to leave the IRS's core systems "as-is" with respect to the AMT, and hold off on the substantial design and engineering work that would be required in order to revert the core tax systems back to 1998 law (which will otherwise apply for 2012 in the absence of any action by Congress).

米勒透露，与过去的做法一样，他指示美国国税局的员工今年再次保留关于替代性最低税国税局的核心系统，并推迟了实质性的设计和工程工作，恢复到1998年的法律的核心税收系统(如果国会不采取任何行动的话，否则它将继续适用于2012的税收)。

Therefore, if Congress enacts an AMT patch before the end of the 2012 calendar year, he confirmed that the IRS “would likely be able to open the 2013 tax filing season with minimal delays for most taxpayers.”

因此，如果国会在2012日历年底前颁布替代性最低税的补丁条款的话，米勒证实国税局“可能会在2013年报税季节开始时延迟大多数的纳税人的申报。”

However, he stressed that, “if there is no AMT patch enacted by the end of the year, the IRS would be forced to operate the 2013 tax filing season based on the expiration of the AMT patch. There would be serious repercussions for taxpayers.”

然而，他强调，“如果年底前没有颁布替代性最低税的补丁条款的话，美国国税局将在这一条款到期的基础上，被迫开始进行2013年的纳税申报。这对于纳税人来说是一个十分严重的后果。”

In addition, in order to allow time for the IRS to make the programming changes necessary to conform its processing systems to reflect expiration of the AMT patch, the IRS would, at a minimum, need to instruct more than 60m taxpayers that they may not file their tax returns or receive a refund until the IRS completes the necessary systems changes.

此外，为了给美国国税局时间更改必要的编程，使其符合它的处理系统，以反映出到期的替代性最低税的补丁条款，美国国税局将至少需要通知超过6000万名纳税人不必再提交退税申请表或者接收退款，直到美国国税局完成必要的系统变化，纳税人才能提交退税申请。

“Because of the magnitude and complexity of the changes,” Miller concluded, “it is entirely possible that these taxpayers would not be able to file until late March 2013, if not even later. Tens of millions of these taxpayers would unexpectedly have to pay additional income tax for 2012, leaving them with a balance due return or a much smaller refund than expected. For millions of other taxpayers, refunds would be delayed.”

米勒总结说，“因为改变的大小程度以及复杂性，这些纳税人完全可能直到2013年3月才能提交退税申请表，如果到时不能提交的话，这一时间可能会继续推迟。数千万的纳税人可能会为2012支付意想不到的额外的所得税，由于退税他们的收支可能会平衡，但是退款可能比他们预期的要少。数百万的纳税人的退税款将被推迟。”

二Carbon tax: Exxon backs Obama plan to impose climate change fees

森美孚石油公司支持碳税征收

导言：当奥巴马总统承诺简化企业税法和提高收入来削减赤字时，征收碳税的提议逐渐引起人们的兴趣。

Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) is part of a growing coalition backing a carbon tax as an alternative to costly regulation, giving newfound prominence to an idea once anathema in Washington.

艾克森美孚石油公司(XOM)开始加入到支持征收碳税作为昂贵监管的替代品的联盟当中，这一突发奇想曾经在华盛顿遭到人们的深恶痛绝。Conservative economists and fossil-fuel lobbyists united in 2009 to fend off climate-change legislation that would have established a cap-

and-trade mechanism. They are now locked in a backroom debate over a tax on carbon-dioxide emissions that could raise an estimated $100 billion in its first year.

保守的经济学家和化石燃料说客联盟在2009年抵制了气候变化立法，即建立一个总量管制与排放交易机制。现在他们正在幕后集中讨论二氧化碳排放税，可能会在第一年带来估计1000亿美元收入。

A carbon tax would force electricity producers, refiners and manufacturers to pay a fee for the greenhouse gases they emit. It is gaining interest as lawmakers and President Barack Obama pledge to simplify the corporate tax code and raise revenue to narrow the deficit. The devastation from superstorm Sandy following the wildfires and drought of this summer have also increased concern about global warming.

碳税的征收将迫使电力生产商，炼油商和制造商为其排放的温室气体支付费用。当议员和巴拉克·奥巴马总统承诺简化企业税法和提高收入来削减财政赤字时，这一提议逐渐引起人们的兴趣。飓风桑迪的破坏，以及今年夏天的森林大火和干旱也增加了人们对全球变暖的担忧。

“It does fit with the Republican idea of cleaning up the tax code, and to have a clean instrument for addressing this problem,” John Reilly, co-director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change, said in an interview. Given this year’s weather disasters, “it’s hard to stand up and say global warming is a hoax,” he said.

马萨诸塞技术学院（Massachusetts Institute of Technology）全球变化科学和政策联合计划联席主任约翰·赖利（John Reilly）在一次采访中表示，“这的确符合共和党人整顿税法的想法，以及能够用“干净”的手段来解决这一问题。鉴于今年的气候灾害，我们很难理足气壮的说全球变暖只是一场骗局。”

The idea still faces long odds. Oregon Democratic Senator Ron Wyden said in Washington today that rounding up support for a carbon tax “is going to be a big lift politically.” Asked about it Thursday, Obama said he doubted there was enough political agreement for the tax, though he warned against delay in combating climate change.

Storm Costs

但是这个想法仍然面临长期实现的可能性。俄勒冈州民主党参议员罗恩·维登（Ron Wyden）今天在华盛顿表示，获得碳税的支持“在政治上还有很长的一段路要走”。被问及周四的会议，奥巴马表示他怀疑碳税已经有足够的政治协议，尽管他警告反对延迟对抗气候变化。

Storm Costs

风暴成本

“It’s important because, you know, one of the things that we don’t always factor in are the costs involved in these natural disasters,”Obama said at a White House press conference. “We just put them off as something that’s unconnected to our behavior.”

奥巴马在白宫的新闻发布会上表示，“这十分重要，因为我们不经常将这些自然灾害的成本考虑在内，当有些事与我们的行为无关时，我们就把它推到一边置之不理。”

The Washington-based American Enterprise Institute, which says it advocates libertarian and conservative values, held a full-day discussion Nov. 13 to examine how best to implement a carbon tax, which its economists say could enable a cut in corporate taxes and head off regulation by the Environmental Protection Agency. The same day, an opponent of the idea, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, filed a lawsuit against the Treasury Department, seeking private e-mails it said would show the administration is secretly pushing for a carbon tax.

位于华盛顿的美国企业研究所（American Enterprise Institute）表示，它提倡自由主义和保守的价值观，并在11月13日全天讨论研究如何最好地实现碳税征收，研究所的经济学家表示可以通过削减公司税并阻止环境保护署（Environmental Protection Agency）的调控来实现。同一天，竞争性企业协会（Competitive Enterprise Institute）提出了反对意见，它对财政部（Competitive Enterprise Institute）提起诉讼，寻求私人电子邮件称这将显示政府正在秘密地推进碳税的实施。“They want new sources of revenues, and this is an enormous one,”Chris Horner, a senior fellow at the Washington- based CEI, said in an interview. “This thing is gaining steam. If successful, it would be disastrous.”

位于华盛顿的中欧倡议国组织（CEI）的高级研究员克里斯·霍纳（Chris Horner）在一次采访中表示，“他们想获得新的收入来源，而且这一数字还十分庞大。碳税的提议正在升温，如果得以实施，那么将带来灾难性的后果。”

Environmentalist Support

环保人士的支持

Some environmentalists such as former Vice President Al Gore want to tax greenhouse-gas emissions, saying it’s a way to curb the use of fossil fuels such as coal and oil, and boost energy efficiency and cleaner energy sources, such as wind power. The Environmental Defense Fund said it prefers a cap on carbon emissions to a tax.

一些环保主义者比如前副总统阿尔·戈尔（Al Gore）希望对温室气体的排放征税，并认为这可以减少使用煤和石油等化石燃料的使用，而且能够促进能源效率和风力发电等清洁能源的使用。环境保护基金（The Environmental Defense Fund）表示比起征收碳税，他们更倾向于限制碳的排放量。

The carbon tax also has had support among economists who have worked for Republican administrations, including Kevin Hassett, who is also at AEI, and Gregory Mankiw, an economist at Harvard University.

碳税也获得了一些曾经在共和党政府工作过的经济学家的支持，其中包括凯文·哈西特（Kevin Hassett），他同时在美国能源独立协会

（ AEI）任职，还包括哈佛大学（Harvard University）的经济学家格里高利·曼昆（Gregory Mankiw）。

Exxon, which opposed legislation in 2009 that would have capped carbon emissions and allowed an auction to trade them, said at the time that a carbon tax would be easier to implement and more predictable.

埃克森美孚石油公司反对2009年限制碳排放和拍卖交易的立法，表示碳税将会更容易实现和预测。

Exxon’s Contributions

埃克森美孚石油公司的贡献

“Combined with further advances in energy efficiency and new technologies spurred by market innovation, a well-designed carbon tax could play a significant role in addressing the challenge of rising emissions,” Kimberly Brasington, a spokeswoman for the company, said in an e-mail. “A carbon tax should be made revenue neutral via tax offsets in other areas,” she added.

埃克森美孚石油公司的发言人Kimberly Brasington在一封电子邮件中表示，“由于市场创新的刺激，能源效率以及新技术进一步完善，这使得一个设计良好的碳税可以在解决不断升级的碳排放问题上发挥重要的作用。碳税征收的同时要通过其他领域的税收抵免来使税收保持中立。”

Exxon’s political action committee gave nearly $1.2 million to political candidates in the past two years, 93 percent of it to Republicans, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

根据互动政治研究中心（Center for Responsive Politics）的消息，在过去两年当中，埃克森美孚石油公司的政治行动委员会给了美国政治候选人近120万美元，其中93%是给了共和党人。

Exxon is the biggest U.S. natural-gas producer. A carbon tax could boost demand for natural gas in U.S. power plants, as gas emits half the carbon dioxide as coal when burned to make electricity. Natural gas futures fell 1.5 percent to $3.703 per million British thermal units today. Gas prices fell to a 10- year low in April after mild winter weather crimped demand for heating fuels while production rose to a record.

埃克森美孚石油公司是美国最大的天然气生产商。碳税能刺激美国发电厂的天然气需求，因为天然气中一半的二氧化碳作为煤燃烧发电。天然气期货已经下跌了1.5%，目前为3.703美元/百万英国热量单位。今年4月份天然气价格跌至10年的最低点，因为暖冬抑制了取暖燃料的需求。

“The source hit hardest is coal,” David Kreutzer, a research fellow in energy economics at the Heritage Foundation in Washington who opposes the tax, said in an interview. “The biggest substitution for coal is going to be natural gas.”

华盛顿传统基金会（Heritage Foundation）的能源经济学研究员大卫·克罗采（David Kreutzer）反对碳税的征收，他在一次采访中表示，“冲击最大的能源就是煤，能够替代煤的最有可能是天然气。”

Taxing greenhouse-gas emissions would help finance an overhaul of the convoluted corporate tax code and is a better way to address global warming than regulations from the EPA, according to Aparna Mathur, an economist at the American Enterprise Institute who hosted Thursday’s forum.

美国企业研究所的经济学家阿帕尔那·马图拉（Aparna Mathur）主持了周四的论坛，他认为对温室气体排放征税将有助于改革错综复杂的企业所得税法，这比环境保护局（EPA）的规定能够更好的解决全球变暖的问题。

Carbon Conference

碳会议

Exxon, the world’s largest energy company by market value, gave AEI $295,000 last year. Exxon played no part in Mathur’s research or the meeting, she said.

根据市场价值计算，埃克森美孚石油公司是世界上最大的能源公司，它在去年为美国创造了295000美元的收益。阿帕尔那·马图拉表示埃克森美孚石油公司没有在她的研究或会议上发挥作用。

Some of Mathur’s fellow scholars at the Washington think tank say imposing a new tax is a mistake, and conservatives are getting duped into thinking it would be imposed in place of -- not in addition to --other taxes and regulations.

马图拉在华盛顿智囊团的共事学者认为，征收新税是一个错误，保守派受骗认为征收碳税就会取代征收其他税收和规定，而不是再另行征收。

“Conservatives are utterly naive to believe that they will get trade-offs in response to a carbon tax,” Kenneth Green, a resident scholar at AEI, said in an interview. “We’ve had some robust discussions over the lunch table about our differences.”

美国能源独立协会的常驻学者肯尼斯·格林（Kenneth Green）在一次采访中表示，“保守派天真的认为征收碳税的同时他们可以得到补偿，我们已经就我们之间的分歧进行了无数次的谈话。”

Tax Receipts

税收收入

Carbon-dioxide emissions since the Industrial Revolution have led to a warming of the Earth’s temperature, which threatens to cause extreme weather, drought and coastal flooding, according to the U.S. Global Change Research Program. Taxing a ton of carbon dioxide at $20 would raise more than $100 billion in the first year, according to research Mathur presented this week.

根据美国全球变化研究计划（U.S. Global Change Research Program）的数据显示，自工业革命以来的二氧化碳的排放已导致全球气候变暖，这可能导致干旱和沿岸泛滥等极端天气。根据马图拉在本周提交的研究报告表示，对一吨的二氧化碳征收20美元可以在第一年筹集了1000多亿美元。

Mathur said she does not advocate a carbon tax in the abstract. She said it’s better than EPA regulation and is studying how it could be best implemented.

马图拉表示她并不在理论上倡导碳税。她认为碳税比环境保护局的监管更有效，目前她正在研究如何可能是最好的实现碳税征收。

The National Journal reported that Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, said he would support a carbon tax that does just what Exxon said is necessary, offsetting the revenue gains with other tax cuts. The next day, Norquist issued a statement clarifying his remark, saying that the new tax would “inevitably lead to higher taxes.”

《国家期刊》（The National Journal）报道，美国税制改革协会（Americans for Tax Reform）的负责人格罗佛?诺奎斯特

（Grover Norquist）称他会支持碳税，而这正如埃克森美孚石油公司

所说的那样是必要的，因为其他减税措施会抵消收入增长。第二天，诺奎斯特发表了一份声明澄清他的言论，表示新的税收将“不可避免地导致更高的税收”。

“In the real world, it’s not conceivable” that revenue from a carbon tax would be matched by cuts in other taxes, Norquist said in an interview. It would mean “higher taxes in the short and long run.” Other opponents of cap-and-trade remain skeptical of a carbon tax.

诺奎斯特在一次采访中表示，在现实世界中碳税的收入不可能与其他的税收相比，碳税的征收意味着将来的高税收。其他总量管制与排放交易的反对者仍对碳税持怀疑态度。

Plan Opponents

反对者

The National Mining Association, which represents coal producers such as Peabody Energy Corp. (BTU), opposes “it unequivocally as it would damage growth,” Luke Popovich, a spokesman, said in an e-mail. It is a regressive tax that would “fall especially hard on those least able to afford it.”

国家矿业协会（The National Mining Association）代表了皮博迪能源公司（BTU）等煤炭生产商，它反对征收碳税，认为这将毫无疑问损害到经济增长。发言人卢克·波波维奇（Luke Popovich）在一封电子邮件中表示，这是一个递减税，碳税的负担将落到最无力承担这一税收的人身上。

And environmentalists are also skeptical of the trade-offs necessary to get Congress to approve any legislation. Obama’s regulatory efforts are bearing fruit, and that shouldn’t be discarded, they say.

同时，环保人士也对得到国会立法的批准而进行抵消权衡持怀疑态度。奥巴马的监管努力正在开花结果，他们认为不应该丢弃这些努力成果。“You hear a lot of talk about a carbon tax,” Ann Weeks, senior counsel of the Clean Air Task Force in Boston, said in an interview. “But EPA has made so much progress on the regulatory front,” she said. “I hope they don’t drop it for that promise of something else.”

波士顿（Boston）净化空气任务组织（Clean Air Task Force）的高级顾问安?周（Ann Weeks）在一次采访中表示，“你听到很多谈论碳税的声音，但是环境保护局在监管层面上取得了巨大的进步，我希望不要因

为其他一些事情而放弃所做的承诺。”