巴菲特致股东的信（2003年）④税务

Taxes

税务

On May 20, 2003, The Washington Post ran an op-ed piece by me that was critical of the Bush tax proposals. Thirteen days later, Pamela Olson, Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy at the U.S. Treasury, delivered a speech about the new tax legislation saying, “That means a certain midwestern oracle, who, it must be noted, has played the tax code like a fiddle, is still safe retaining all his earnings.” I think she was talking about me.

2003 年 5 月 20 号，华盛顿邮报的社论版面刊登了本人关于布什减税政策的评论，13 天后，美国财政部主管税务政策的助理秘书 PamelaOlson，在一场租税新法令的演讲中提到："这代表，我必须这样说，某位擅长玩弄税法的中西部圣人，将可以放心地留住他赚到的所有钱"，我想她讲的正是我本人！

Alas, my “fiddle playing” will not get me to Carnegie Hall – or even to a high school recital. Berkshire, on your behalf and mine, will send the Treasury $3.3 billion for tax on its 2003 income, a sum equaling 2½% of the total income tax paid by all U.S. corporations in fiscal 2003. (In contrast, Berkshire’s market valuation is about 1% of the value of all American corporations.) Our payment will almost certainly place us among our country’s top ten taxpayers. Indeed, if only 540 taxpayers paid the amount Berkshire will pay, no other individual or corporation would have to pay anything to Uncle Sam. That’s right: 290 million Americans and all other businesses would not have to pay a dime in income, social security, excise or estate taxes to the federal government. (Here’s the math: Federal tax receipts, including social security receipts, in fiscal 2003 totaled $1.782 trillion and 540 “Berkshires,” each paying $3.3 billion, would deliver the same $1.782 trillion.)

可惜的是，我的琴技不要说无法让我进入卡内基音乐厅，甚至可能连高中音乐会都派不上用场，伯克希尔2003 年总计缴交了 33 亿美元的所得税，约占全美所有企业缴交国库的 2.5%，(相对之下，伯克希尔的市值仅占全美企业总值的 1%)，这金额肯定可以让我们名列全美纳税大户前十名，没错，假使全美只要有 540 个像伯克希尔这样的纳税人，不论是企业或是个人，其它所有人都可以不必再缴一毛的税给美国政府，让我再说一次，全美其余 2.9 亿的人民以及其它公司不必再支付一毛的所得税、社会保险费、不动产契税给联邦政府，(这里有一个简单的数学算式，2003 年联邦政府税收，包含社会保险费在内，金额为 1.782 兆美元，只要有 540 个像伯克希尔，每位缴纳 33 亿美元就足矣！)。

Our federal tax return for 2002 (2003 is not finalized), when we paid $1.75 billion, covered a mere 8,905 pages. As is required, we dutifully filed two copies of this return, creating a pile of paper seven feet tall. At World Headquarters, our small band of 15.8, though exhausted, momentarily flushed with pride: Berkshire, we felt, was surely pulling its share of our country’s fiscal load.

2002 年(2003 年尚未核定)伯克希尔总计缴了 17.5 亿美元，税务申报书厚达 8,905 页，依规定税务申报书须附两份，叠起来有七英尺高，由在伯克希尔的全球总部区区的 15.8 个人，拼死拼活赶出报告，因此我们可以大声地说：伯克希尔已经尽到其应尽的纳税义务。

But Ms. Olson sees things otherwise. And if that means Charlie and I need to try harder, we are ready to do so.

但是 Olson 女士却有不同的看法，如果这代表查理跟我本人目前所作的努力还不够的话，我们唯有再加把劲了。

I do wish, however, that Ms. Olson would give me some credit for the progress I’ve already made. In 1944, I filed my first 1040, reporting my income as a thirteen-year-old newspaper carrier. The return covered three pages. After I claimed the appropriate business deductions, such as $35 for a bicycle, my tax bill was $7. I sent my check to the Treasury and it – without comment – promptly cashed it. We lived in peace.

不过我还是希望 Olson 女士能为我过去所做的努力给予一些赞许，回顾 1944 年当我还是一个年仅 13 岁的送报生时，第一次申报所得税，整个 1040 表只有三页，在减除 35 元的脚踏车扣抵之后，结算出应纳税额为 7.1 美元，我将支票寄给美国国库，并于不久之后兑现，一直以来，我们都相安无事。

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I can understand why the Treasury is now frustrated with Corporate America and prone to outbursts. But it should look to Congress and the Administration for redress, not to Berkshire.

我可以体会为何财政部现在对于美国企业相当感冒，且已经到了忍无可忍的地步，但他们应该做的是将目标锁定在国会以及行政体系寻求解决之道，而不是将矛头对准伯克希尔。

Corporate income taxes in fiscal 2003 accounted for 7.4% of all federal tax receipts, down from a post-war peak of 32% in 1952. With one exception (1983), last year’s percentage is the lowest recorded since data was first published in 1934.

2003 年会计年度，美国企业全体累计缴纳所得税仅占联邦税收的 7.4%，远低于 1952 年战后 32%的巅峰，除了 1983 年外，去年的比率是自 1934 年有统计数字以来最低的一年。

Even so, tax breaks for corporations (and their investors, particularly large ones) were a major part of the Administration’s 2002 and 2003 initiatives. If class warfare is being waged in America, my class is clearly winning. Today, many large corporations – run by CEOs whose fiddle-playing talents make your Chairman look like he is all thumbs – pay nothing close to the stated federal tax rate of 35%.

即便如此，企业以及其投资人(尤其是大股东)享有更多的租税优惠，是 2002 年及 2003 年布什政府减税法案的动因，如果今天美国发生阶级战争，则属于我们这一阶级显然将获得大胜，相较于其它美国大企业总裁所玩弄的技巧，本人的程度显然只能算是个三岁小孩，支付的所得税与法定联邦所得税率 35%相差无几。

In 1985, Berkshire paid $132 million in federal income taxes, and all corporations paid $61 billion. The comparable amounts in 1995 were $286 million and $157 billion respectively. And, as mentioned, we will pay about $3.3 billion for 2003, a year when all corporations paid $132 billion. We hope our taxes continue to rise in the future – it will mean we are prospering – but we also hope that the rest of Corporate America antes up along with us. This might be a project for Ms. Olson to work on.

1985 年伯克希尔支付了 1.32 亿美元的联邦所得税，而所有美国企业合计缴纳了 610 亿美元，相较于 1995年，伯克希尔支付了 2.86 亿美元，而所有美国企业合计缴纳了 1570 亿美元，另外刚刚说过，2003 年伯克希尔支付了 33 亿美元的联邦所得税，但所有美国企业合计缴纳的金额却仅有 1320 亿美元，我们期望未来伯克希尔缴纳的所得税金额能够继续增加，因为那代表我们又赚了更多的钱，但在这同时，我们也希望其它美国企业也能够向我们看齐，我认为这才是 Olson 女士应该努力的方向。