“Now you may only see a pile of receipts. But I see a story. I can see where this story is going. It does not look good.” These lines, spoken by an Internal Revenue Service agent in “Everything Everywhere All At Once”, a dark sci-fi comedy now showing in cinemas, is perfectly calibrated to strike fear into the hearts of Americans ahead of their tax-filing deadline on April 18th. The agent has a paper trail neatly arrayed on her desk as she conducts an audit. Reality is more frightening, for the exact opposite reason. “Paper is the IRS’s kryptonite,” Erin Collins, a watchdog within the IRS, recently told Congress. “The agency is buried in it.”

在你可能只會(huì)看到一堆收據(jù)。但我看到了一個(gè)故事。我知道接下來(lái)會(huì)發(fā)生什么了。看起來(lái)不太好?！?在一部正在影院上映的黑色科幻喜劇片《瞬息全宇宙》中，美國(guó)國(guó)稅局的一名探員說(shuō)了這句話。在4月18日?qǐng)?bào)稅截止日期之前，這句話完美地植入了美國(guó)人心中的恐懼。探員在進(jìn)行審計(jì)時(shí)，她的辦公桌上整齊地?cái)[放著一份文件?，F(xiàn)實(shí)更可怕，原因恰恰相反。“紙張是國(guó)稅局的致命弱點(diǎn)，”國(guó)稅局內(nèi)部監(jiān)督人員Erin Collins最近告訴國(guó)會(huì)?！皣?guó)稅局深陷其中?！?/p>

The IRS entered this tax season with a backlog of 24m returns, 20 times worse than normal, as it struggled to recover from pandemic disruptions. Good luck to anyone wanting help by phone: just one in nine callers reached an agent last year, according to Ms Collins. Now in the midst of a hiring drive, the IRS thinks it can clear the backlog by the end of 2022. But it will be up to two years late in processing many returns. “It’s a crisis,” says Mark Everson, former head of the IRS. “Millions of people and businesses who were due tax refunds don’t have that money yet. This is very detrimental for compliance.

進(jìn)入這個(gè)納稅季節(jié)，美國(guó)國(guó)稅局正艱難地從疫情中斷中恢復(fù)過(guò)來(lái)，其積壓了2400萬(wàn)份報(bào)稅表，比正常情況糟糕20倍。祝任何想通過(guò)電話尋求幫助的人好運(yùn):根據(jù)Collins女士的說(shuō)法，去年只有九分之一的打電話者找到了國(guó)稅局探員?，F(xiàn)在，在招聘熱潮中，美國(guó)國(guó)稅局認(rèn)為可以在2022年底前解決積壓的工作。但在處理許多報(bào)稅表方面，它將晚兩年。美國(guó)國(guó)稅局前局長(zhǎng)Mark Everson表示：“這是一場(chǎng)危機(jī)，數(shù)以百萬(wàn)計(jì)的個(gè)人和企業(yè)應(yīng)該得到退稅，但他們還沒有拿到這筆錢。這對(duì)合規(guī)性非常不利?！?/p>

Even without the pandemic, the IRS was struggling, the victim of chronic underfunding. Spending on the agency has declined by nearly 20% since 2010. At the same time, the number of tax returns has increased by 20%. The backbone of the system, a nationwide taxpayer database, is built on top of a 1960s computer language rarely taught in schools. One major element of President Joe Biden’s legislative programme is a funding boost for the IRS. Yet that is stalled, along with much of the rest of his agenda.

即使沒有大流行病，國(guó)稅局也在掙扎，其是長(zhǎng)期資金不足的受害者。自2010年以來(lái)，國(guó)稅局的支出下降了近20%。與此同時(shí)，納稅申報(bào)表的數(shù)量增加了20%。該系統(tǒng)的主干是一個(gè)全國(guó)性的納稅人數(shù)據(jù)庫(kù)，它是建立在一種20世紀(jì)60年代的計(jì)算機(jī)語(yǔ)言之上的，這種語(yǔ)言在學(xué)校里很少教。喬?拜登(Joe Biden)總統(tǒng)立法計(jì)劃的一個(gè)主要內(nèi)容是增加國(guó)稅局的資金。然而，這一計(jì)劃和他的大部分其他議程都被擱置了。

It is hard for lawmakers to summon enthusiasm for the IRS. Who enjoys paying taxes? Even for those who recognise the social value, the act of filing tax returns is a hassle. The 1040 form, the basic document for personal-income-tax reporting, came with just one page of instructions when introduced in 1913. This year’s version has 230 pages of instructions when counting all the branches added to it, reckons Demian Brady of the National Taxpayers Union Foundation, an advocacy organisation.

【背景】1040表格是一份基本的美國(guó)聯(lián)邦所得稅表格。1040表格是美國(guó)最常見的稅務(wù)文件之一，每年都有許多美國(guó)人填寫。表格包括兩個(gè)主要部分：一個(gè)是報(bào)告收入和家庭信息，另一個(gè)是適用于納稅義務(wù)的允許扣除、抵免和其他考慮。

立法者很難對(duì)國(guó)稅局產(chǎn)生熱情。誰(shuí)喜歡納稅? 即使對(duì)那些認(rèn)識(shí)到其社會(huì)價(jià)值的人來(lái)說(shuō)，申報(bào)納稅也是一件麻煩事。1040表格是申報(bào)個(gè)人所得稅的基本文件，1913年推出時(shí)只有一頁(yè)說(shuō)明。國(guó)家納稅人聯(lián)盟基金會(huì)(一個(gè)倡導(dǎo)組織)的Demian Brady估計(jì)，今年的版本如果包括所有新增分支機(jī)構(gòu)，其有230頁(yè)的說(shuō)明。

Like any good story, though, there is also a plot twist. Despite its awful backlog, the IRS has, from another perspective, had a very good pandemic. It has played a critical role in delivering support to Americans. And it has been surprisingly efficient at it. For each of the three rounds of stimulus payments, the IRS was the conduit. Within two weeks of Mr Biden’s signing of the stimulus bill in March 2021, for instance, it sent out $325bn via 127m separate payments, mainly by direct bank deposit. Some people fell through the cracks and cheques took longer. But most got the money quickly. The IRS operated at even greater frequency in making child-tax-credit payments every month.

不過(guò)，就像任何好故事一樣，故事情節(jié)也有轉(zhuǎn)折。盡管積壓如山，但從另一個(gè)角度來(lái)看，美國(guó)國(guó)稅局在新冠大流行下表現(xiàn)很好。它在向美國(guó)人民提供支持方面發(fā)揮了關(guān)鍵作用。它在這方面的效率驚人。在這三輪刺激支付中，美國(guó)國(guó)稅局都是傳導(dǎo)渠道。例如，在拜登于2021年3月簽署經(jīng)濟(jì)刺激法案后的兩周內(nèi)，政府通過(guò)1.27億筆單獨(dú)支付，主要是通過(guò)銀行直接存款，發(fā)放了3250億美元。有些人被遺漏了，拿到支票花的時(shí)間更長(zhǎng)。但大多數(shù)人很快就拿到了錢。美國(guó)國(guó)稅局每月在兒童稅收抵免付款方面的頻率甚至更高。

Along with doling out vast sums of cash, the IRS also took less in. The government gave the unemployed tax breaks on their benefits and gave businesses tax breaks for retaining workers. It also expanded the earned-income tax credit, a subsidy given to low earners, one of America’s biggest anti-poverty programmes. Putting it together, a poor family with two young children could expect $20,000 from the IRS last year, double what they would normally receive. In all, the agency paid out more than $600bn in pandemic-related support in 2021, equivalent to about two-thirds of Social Security spending in the federal government’s budget. “We have seen a substantial share of what used to be the social safety-net migrate from the public-expenditure side of the federal ledger to being run through the tax code,” points out Gordon Gray of the American Action Forum, a think-tank.

除了發(fā)放大量現(xiàn)金外，美國(guó)國(guó)稅局的收入也減少了。政府為失業(yè)者的福利提供稅收減免，并為留住工人的企業(yè)提供稅收減免。它還擴(kuò)大了勞動(dòng)所得稅收抵免，這是一項(xiàng)給予低收入者的補(bǔ)貼，是美國(guó)最大的扶貧項(xiàng)目之一。加在一起，一個(gè)有兩個(gè)孩子的貧困家庭去年可以從美國(guó)國(guó)稅局獲得2萬(wàn)美元，這是正常情況下的兩倍。該機(jī)構(gòu)在2021年總共支付了6000多億美元的大流行病的相關(guān)支持，相當(dāng)于聯(lián)邦政府預(yù)算中約三分之二的社會(huì)保障支出。智庫(kù)美國(guó)行動(dòng)論的Gordon Gray指出:“我們已經(jīng)看到過(guò)去社會(huì)保障網(wǎng)的很大一部分從聯(lián)邦分類賬的公共支出部分轉(zhuǎn)移到了稅法中”。

By the agency’s own count, Americans spend about 13 hours doing their taxes on average—mostly condensed into one frantic spring weekend. In fact this is an improvement: in 2010 the estimate was 18 hours. Increased use of software such as TurboTax, made by Intuit, has sped up the filing process. More could be done: the IRS provides a free-software option for poorer Americans but does a bad job advertising it (the Federal Trade Commission is suing Intuit for allegedly attracting customers in the belief that filing would be free, only to charge them). There are also perennial calls for the IRS to collect tax via withheld pay, allowing many to avoid filing returns altogether, as is common elsewhere, including Britain.

【背景】美國(guó)聯(lián)邦貿(mào)易委員會(huì)在聯(lián)邦法院起訴 Intuit，聲稱它多年來(lái)一直欺騙客戶，將其 TurboTax 軟件作為免費(fèi)軟件進(jìn)行營(yíng)銷，然后在大多數(shù)用戶提交所得稅時(shí)向他們收取費(fèi)用。根據(jù) Inuit 1 月份的股東介紹，2021 年約有 5,600 萬(wàn)人使用 TurboTax 報(bào)稅。該公司表示，這些人提交了 5,400 萬(wàn)份 W-2 和 4,000 萬(wàn)份 1099 稅表。

FTC 在美國(guó)加州北區(qū)地方法院起訴 Intuit，要求立即停止其「假」廣告，因?yàn)榧{稅人急于在 4 月 18 日的最后期限前提交 2021 年所得稅。該機(jī)構(gòu)周一還發(fā)布了一份平行的行政投訴，稱該訴訟將確定 Intuit 的行為是否違反了 FTC 法案。FTC 表示，Intuit 的大部份廣告都告訴消費(fèi)者，他們可以使用 TurboTax 網(wǎng)絡(luò)免費(fèi)提交所得稅，但對(duì)于大多數(shù)用戶來(lái)說(shuō)并非如此，包括獲得 1099 稅表，零工經(jīng)濟(jì)中的獨(dú)立合約員工。

根據(jù)國(guó)稅局自己的統(tǒng)計(jì)，美國(guó)人平均花13個(gè)小時(shí)報(bào)稅，大部分都集中在一個(gè)狂亂的春季周末。事實(shí)上，這是一個(gè)進(jìn)步:2010年的估計(jì)是18個(gè)小時(shí)。Intuit公司的TurboTax等軟件的使用增加，加快了申報(bào)過(guò)程。還可以做得更多: 美國(guó)國(guó)稅局為較貧窮的美國(guó)人提供了免費(fèi)軟件的選擇，但在宣傳方面做得很差(聯(lián)邦貿(mào)易委員會(huì)正在起訴Intuit公司，理由是Intuit公司讓人們相信可以免費(fèi)報(bào)稅，但卻向他們收費(fèi)，從而吸引客戶)。還有一些人長(zhǎng)期呼吁美國(guó)國(guó)稅局通過(guò)代扣代繳稅款來(lái)征稅，這樣許多人就可以完全避免提交報(bào)稅表，這在其他地方很常見，包括英國(guó)。

That, however, misses the point about the IRS as a welfare provider. It needs a range of information from taxpayers in order to assess their eligibility. “We don’t look at stores like Walmart and say, oh, it’s so complicated. We say, hey, that’s convenient. A similar thing should apply to some extent to the income-tax system,” says William Gale of the Brookings Institution, another think-tank. Using the 1040 form as the gateway to multiple social programmes and tax credits means that people do not have to go to a series of different agencies for each payout.

然而，這并沒有抓住國(guó)稅局作為福利提供者的意義。它需要納稅人提供一系列信息，以評(píng)估他們的資格。另一家智庫(kù)布魯金斯學(xué)會(huì)的William Gale說(shuō)：“我們不會(huì)看著沃爾瑪這樣的商店說(shuō)，哦，這太復(fù)雜了。我們會(huì)說(shuō)，嘿，這很方便。類似的事情也應(yīng)該在一定程度上適用于所得稅制度”。使用1040表格作為多個(gè)社會(huì)項(xiàng)目和稅收抵免的入口，意味著人們不必為每一筆支出去找一系列不同的機(jī)構(gòu)。

Eventually, the IRS will hack its way through the pandemic backlog. That, however, will do nothing to fix another serious problem: the degradation of its auditing abilities. About a fifth of agency staff are eligible for retirement, and many have taken covid as the moment to leave. “We’re losing exactly the kind of people we need to be able to maintain enforcement scrutiny,” says a senior Treasury official. The IRS audited 0.3% of corporate tax returns filed in 2018, down from 1.6% in 2010. The number this year may well be lower. Charles Rettig, who leads the agency as its commissioner, has estimated that the government loses about $1trn in tax revenues annually because of cheating. The agency is “outgunned” against big companies, he says.

最終，國(guó)稅局會(huì)設(shè)法解決大流行的積壓。然而，這無(wú)助于解決另一個(gè)嚴(yán)重問(wèn)題:審計(jì)能力的下降。大約五分之一的國(guó)稅局工作人員符合退休條件，許多人因感染新冠肺炎而離開。美國(guó)財(cái)政部一位高級(jí)官員表示:“我們正在失去的正是我們需要的那種人，他們能夠維持執(zhí)法審查。”2018年美國(guó)國(guó)稅局審計(jì)了0.3%的企業(yè)納稅申報(bào)單，低于2010年的1.6%。今年這一數(shù)字可能會(huì)更低。作為主管該機(jī)構(gòu)的專員，Charles Rettig估計(jì)，政府每年因欺詐損失約1萬(wàn)億美元的稅收。他說(shuō)，與大公司相比，該機(jī)構(gòu)“火力不足”。

The answer to so many of the IRS’s woes—antiquated tech systems, congested phone lines, threadbare enforcement—is more funding. It stands as one of the few federal agencies that would generate a large and nearly immediate return on investment were the government to spend more on it. The hope for the harried tax agents is that the highs and lows of IRS performance during the pandemic will have earned it grudging support in Washington, demonstrating that it is both overstretched and indispensable.

要解決國(guó)稅局眾多的問(wèn)題(陳舊的技術(shù)系統(tǒng)，擁擠的電話線路，老一套的執(zhí)法)需要更多的資金。如果政府在這方面投入更多資金，它將成為少數(shù)幾個(gè)能夠產(chǎn)生巨大且?guī)缀趿⒓吹耐顿Y回報(bào)的聯(lián)邦機(jī)構(gòu)之一。對(duì)于飽受困擾的稅務(wù)人員來(lái)說(shuō)，他們希望疫情期間美國(guó)國(guó)稅局起起伏伏的表現(xiàn)能讓他們?cè)谌A盛頓獲得勉強(qiáng)的支持，這表明國(guó)稅局的工作負(fù)擔(dān)過(guò)重，而且不可或缺。