Recently, Finance Minister Lou Jiwei stated that it is necessary to improve the consumption tax system. According to an industry source, after the “Overall Plan for Deepening the Reform of the Fiscal and Tax System” was passed on June 30, and in accordance with the steps for the announcement, discussion, revision, and reporting of the tax reform program, the consumption tax adjustment plan is expected to be in October this year. Introduced.

"At present, the improvement of the consumption tax has resulted in a high level of consensus. The progress will be relatively fast. It is expected to be classified as a local tax and adjusted to the scope and rate of taxation." Deputy Director of the Research Department of the Macroeconomic Research Department of the State Council Development Research Center, Guotai Junan Chief Ren Zeping, a macro analyst, pointed out that the main points of the consumption tax reform are the following: First, raise the consumption tax rates for high-energy, high-polluting products and some high-end consumer goods and services, such as batteries, private yachts, private jets, tobacco and alcohol, and fuel oil. The second is the reduction or elimination of consumption tax on daily cosmetics, small-displacement automobiles, new energy vehicles, etc.; third is the change from production or import links to retail or wholesale links, from in-quote taxes to off-price taxes; The tax is classified as a local tax, which can supplement local financial resources by 1 trillion yuan, which contributes significantly to the big consumer provinces and is conducive to steady growth.

The Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee decided to explicitly request that “the scope, links, and tax rates of excise tax collection should be adjusted to include high energy consumption, high pollution products, and some high-end consumer goods.”

The consumption tax reform will be announced in the second half of this year and is expected to have a variety of impacts. First, it will help adjust the structure, limit the consumption of products with high energy consumption, high pollution, and some high-end consumer goods and services, and encourage the consumption of daily and energy-saving consumer goods. . Considering that high-income groups are insensitive to the prices of high-end consumer goods, their restrictive effects need to be observed. Second, the consumption tax reform will favor small-displacement vehicles, energy-saving products, and daily consumer goods, and high-end consumer goods will have pre-ahead expenditure; To facilitate steady growth, it will supplement local financial resources by about 1 trillion yuan. Fourth, it will help local governments actively create a consumption environment and serve consumers.

"The consumption tax reform involves the vital interests of consumers and should be included in the scope of taxation as luxury goods and high pollution products as the two major driving directions for reform. However, the tax rate that will eventually involve the purchasing power of the people should be fully measured and carefully formulated." Liu Wei, deputy dean of the College of Taxation, pointed out in an interview with reporters.

Liu Hao believes that if the excessive consumption tax on luxury goods, will make its prices continue to soar, even far higher than the price of similar foreign products. This will directly lead to the outflow of domestic purchasing power, and it will also be detrimental to the development of related domestic industries. The appropriate taxation of luxury goods can reflect the domestic opposition to luxury and promote the tradition of economy.

Regarding the inclusion of some high-energy-consuming and highly-polluting products in the scope of the consumption tax levy, Liu Xie said that if the price of related products rises too fast, it may cause some negative impact on the quality of life of the people. Therefore, the relevant departments should, on the basis of full accounting, guard against the extension of consumption tax to boost the cost of the people and determine the tax rate appropriately.

In an interview with a reporter, a Guangxu Hang Seng researcher believes that the state wants to increase the control function of the consumption tax in promoting energy saving and emission reduction, and promotes the transformation of industries through energy saving and emission reduction and the accelerated transformation of development methods. It does not mean that they want to increase through consumption tax expansion. Revenue.

According to the latest data released by the Ministry of Finance, the country’s public finance revenue was 8,043.9 billion yuan and expenditure was 690.9 billion yuan in the first seven months of this year, an increase of 8% year-on-year, and the growth rate was down 3.6 percentage points year-on-year.

In response, the above-mentioned researcher stated that the reduction in structural tax cuts and policy adjustments by the state resulted in a slowdown in fiscal revenue growth, especially the growth rate of the central government revenue. Currently, the vast majority of excise taxes are collected at the production stage and the collection and management costs are relatively low. And the consumption tax revenues are all placed in the center. "The change in the levy process is aimed at pave the way for changing consumption tax into local tax."