政府と政府税制調査会は、所得税・相続税を見直し、収入・資産の多い人から税をより多く得る方向（累進性の強化）をはっきりさせてきている。今月６日には、民主党がその方向の公約原案を示した。
The Government and the Government Tax Commission have made it clear that they intend to reform the current income/inheritance tax system and increase the revenue obtained from those who have a high income or a lot of assets (in other words they intend to make the tax system more progressive).
今まで、政策遂行のために予算はいる、しかし余裕はない、無駄を削ろう、だが限界がある、では結局消費税の引き上げか。そんな枠組みで議論がなされてきた。ようやく別のことが現実的に語られている。
Until now the debate has been framed along the following lines: the government needs a budget to enact policy but there is not enough revenue; waste should be eliminated but there are limits to the savings this can produce; ultimately the consumption tax must be raised. Now at last a different approach is being given real consideration.
税の大きな意義は、市場で多くを得た人から得られなかった人に、また、得る必要のある人に渡すことにある。そうでなければ、政府が強制して徴収する税という仕組みを取る必然性もない。その機能を果たす直接税、とくに累進的な所得税の役割がここ二十数年の間に低下した。その方が経済によい影響を与え、税収も増えるといったことが語られた。ところが、税収は減り、なすべき政策ができなくなった。昨年の所得税収は27年ぶりの低水準だった。
The most important purpose of taxation is to provide resources to those who need them or who cannot obtain very many in the free market. If this is not the aim there is no need for the government to collect taxes by force. The role of progressive income tax and direct taxation which performs this function has been reduced over the past twenty years. It was claimed that this would be good for the economy and that this would in turn lead to greater tax revenues. In fact tax revenues fell, and much needed policies could not be carried out. Last year's tax revenues were the lowest in twenty-seven years.
じつは所得税を立て直さねばならないことは、政権交代前の政府税調でも認識されていた。だが消極論もあった。増税は敵をつくるという思惑もあっただろう、政党は選挙で争わず、報道でも経費節減と消費税にもっぱら焦点が当てられてきた。ただ１９８７年の税率に戻すと所得税収が１・５倍になるとの試算もある。
The need to reform the income tax system had in fact already been recognized by the Tax Commission before the recent change of government. But there were also objections to doing so. There were presumably calculations that raising taxes would make enemies for those responsible, and political parties did not engage in this debate during the election. Reporting also focused solely on reducing expenses and [increasing] the consumption tax. But it has been estimated that if we returned income taxes to 1987 levels overall revenue would be one and a half times what it is today.
政権が代わった昨年秋から事態は具体的に動き出した。10月に首相の諮問があり、12月に税制改正大綱が発表された。そして税制調査会の専門家委員会の顔ぶれを見ても、委員長ほか所得税の役割をより重視するべきであるという立場の人たちが多い。改革の方向は明確である。だが、異論も出されるだろう。累進性を強くすると高額所得者が働かなくなる。海外逃避が起こる。そして経済が悪くなる。根も葉もないことではないが、うのみにする必要もない。
Circumstances underwent a concrete shift with the change of government last autumn. The Prime Minister held consultations in October and in December an outline of tax system reform was presented. Many members of the Tax Commission, including its chairman, are people who have taken the position that we must place greater emphasis on the role of income tax. The direction reform will take is clear. But there will presumably be objections to this approach: if taxation becomes more progressive those with high incomes will stop working; people with money will escape to another country; the economy will then get worse. These fears concerning reform are not completely groundless, but they need not be accepted without examination.
勤労意欲の喪失という懸念には、理論的にも実証的にも根拠のある異論がある。むしろ格差が大きすぎない方が多くの人は自分の仕事にまじめに取り組むはずだ。
Concerns about people losing the desire to work have been addressed with arguments grounded in both theory and empirical evidence. It seems clear that on the contrary people will do their jobs more diligently if income disparity is lessened.
他方、国境を越えた逃避の可能性は考慮すべきことではある。ただ、税率をしばらく前に戻す程度のことで、税収の総額を減らすほどの国外逃避が起こることは考えられない。税制の安定は国際的な課題でもあり、既に長く逃避の規制はなされているし、国際的な協調・協力体制も十分ではないにしても存在する。
The possibility of flight across national borders, on the other hand, is indeed something which must be taken into consideration. However, it seems extremely unlikely that if tax levels returned to what they were a short time ago this would result in money leaving the country in amounts sufficient to cause overall tax revenues to decrease. The stability of tax systems is an international issue. Policies to restrict this kind of flight have been in place for a long time, and systems of international cooperation aimed at dealing with this problem, while they may not yet be sufficient, already exist.
政権の選択とは、基本的にはどんな社会にするかの選択である。公正・平等の方向に行くのかそうでないか。対立軸をはっきりさせた方がわかりやすい。本当に財源が足りないなら必要なものも我慢しよう。だがそんなはずはない。この素朴だがまともな認識からこれからの社会を構想しよう。税制の改革はその重要な一部である。
Choosing a government is fundamentally a choice about what kind of society we want to have. We must choose whether or not to move in the direction of fairness and equality. It is easier to understand if we clarify the axis of opposition. If there is a genuine shortage of resources certain things must be endured. But this is surely not the case. Going forward we should construct our society based on this simple but correct understanding. Reforming the tax system is an important part of this process.
