巴菲特致股东的信（2022年）⑥关于联邦税收的一些惊人事实

Some Surprising Facts About Federal Taxes

关于联邦税收的一些惊人事实

During the decade ending in 2021, the United States Treasury received about $32.3 trillion in taxes while it spent $43.9 trillion.

在截至2021年的十年间，美国财政部收到了大约32.3万亿美元的税款，同期支出了43.9万亿美元。

Though economists, politicians and many of the public have opinions about the consequences of that huge imbalance, Charlie and I plead ignorance and firmly believe that near-term economic and market forecasts are worse than useless. Our job is to manage Berkshire’s operations and finances in a manner that will achieve an acceptable result over time and that will preserve the company’s unmatched staying power when financial panics or severe worldwide recessions occur. Berkshire also offers some modest protection from runaway inflation, but this attribute is far from perfect. Huge and entrenched fiscal deficits have consequences.

尽管经济学家、政治家和许多公众对这一巨大失衡的后果各执己见，查理和我只能说自己一无所知，而且我们坚信，对短期经济和市场的预测比一无用处还不如。我们的工作是管理好伯克希尔的运营和财务，使其长期能取得可接受的业绩，并在金融恐慌或严重的全球衰退来袭时保有公司无与伦比的生存能力。伯克希尔也能在一定程度上抵御通货膨胀的失控，但这个属性远非完美。巨额且根深蒂固的财政赤字是有后果的。

The $32 trillion of revenue was garnered by the Treasury through individual income taxes (48%), social security and related receipts (341⁄2%), corporate income tax payments (81⁄2%) and a wide variety of lesser levies. Berkshire’s contribution via the corporate income tax was $32 billion during the decade, almost exactly a tenth of 1% of all money that the Treasury collected.

32万亿美元的收入来自：个人所得税（48%）、社会保障及相关缴款（34.5%）、企业所得税（8.5%），以及各种较小的税种。在这十年里，伯克希尔通过企业所得税贡献了320亿美元，几乎恰好是财政部全部税收总额的千分之一。

And that means – brace yourself – had there been roughly 1,000 taxpayers in the U.S. matching Berkshire’s payments, no other businesses nor any of the country’s 131 million households would have needed to pay any taxes to the federal government. Not a dime.

这意味着——请坐稳了——如果美国有大约1,000个纳税人也缴纳与伯克希尔同等金额的税款，那么其他所有企业、以及全国1.31亿户家庭都不需要向联邦政府缴一分钱税。一分钱都不用。百万、十亿、万亿——这些词我们都认识，但涉及的金额几乎无法想象。让我们给这些数字赋予物理维度：

Millions, billions, trillions – we all know the words, but the sums involved are almost impossible to comprehend. Let’s put physical dimensions to the numbers:

如果你把100万美元换成崭新的百元大钞，那叠钞票能堆到你的胸口。

• If you convert $1 million into newly-printed $100 bills, you will have a stack that reaches your chest. • Perform the same exercise with $1 billion – this is getting exciting! – and the stack reaches about 3⁄4 of a mile into the sky. • Finally, imagine piling up $32 billion, the total of Berkshire’s 2012-21 federal income tax payments. Now the stack grows to more than 21 miles in height, about three times the level at which commercial airplanes usually cruise.

用10亿美元做同样的事——这下可越来越刺激了！——那叠钞票能直冲天际约四分之三英里。最后，想象一下把320亿美元堆起来——也就是伯克希尔2012年到2021年缴纳的联邦所得税总额。这回，那叠钞票的高度超过了21英里，大约是商用飞机通常巡航高度的三倍。

When it comes to federal taxes, individuals who own Berkshire can unequivocally state “I gave at the office.”

谈到联邦税收，伯克希尔的股东可以理直气壮地说："我在公司那儿已经交过了。

At Berkshire we hope and expect to pay much more in taxes during the next decade. We owe the country no less: America’s dynamism has made a huge contribution to whatever success Berkshire has achieved – a contribution Berkshire will always need. We count on the American Tailwind and, though it has been becalmed from time to time, its propelling force has always returned.

"在伯克希尔，我们希望也预期在未来十年缴纳更多的税。我们亏欠这个国家的一点也不比这少：美国的活力对伯克希尔取得的任何成就都贡献巨大——这种贡献是伯克希尔永远需要的。我们依靠的是美国顺风，尽管它有时会歇一歇，但它的推动力总会重新归来。

I have been investing for 80 years – more than one-third of our country’s lifetime. Despite our citizens’ penchant – almost enthusiasm – for self-criticism and self-doubt, I have yet to see a time when it made sense to make a long-term bet against America. And I doubt very much that any reader of this letter will have a different experience in the future.

我已经投资了80年——超过我们国家历史的三分之一。尽管美国人民有自我批评和自我怀疑的偏好——几乎可以说是热情——但我从未见过哪个时候长期做空美国是明智的。我也非常怀疑这封信的读者将来会有不同的经历。