Generally speaking, American taxes can be divided into the following categories: federal taxes, state taxes and local taxes; From the perspective of taxes, there are personal income tax, enterprise income tax, social security welfare tax and health care tax, sales tax, property tax, real estate tax, inheritance tax, gift tax, consumption tax and so on. From the perspective of tax rate, it can be divided into single tax rate, progressive tax rate and decreasing tax rate; In the measurement of tax, it can be divided into specific tax and ad valorem tax. Here is a brief introduction to the relevant taxes in the United States.
Federal tax (federal tax)
Federal tax, as its name implies, is a tax levied by the federal government. Federal income tax is mainly used to pay defense expenditure items, foreign affairs expenditure, law enforcement expenditure, debt interest, etc. Among all kinds of federal taxes, income tax accounts for the main position. Mainly personal income tax and social security welfare tax, followed by corporate income tax. Federal inheritance tax, gift tax and commodity consumption tax account for a small proportion of the total federal income. Take 2004 as an example. In the total federal tax revenue, personal income tax accounts for 43%, social security and welfare security tax accounts for 39%, enterprise income tax accounts for 10%, commodity consumption tax accounts for 4%, and the remaining 4% is inheritance tax, gift tax and other taxes (see table 1).
individual income tax
Personal income tax, also known as personal tax, is the main source of federal government tax revenue. The principle of individual tax collection is "living within our means". There are four main ways to pay personal income tax: husband and wife's joint tax declaration, husband and wife's separate tax declaration, head of household's tax declaration and individual tax declaration. Personal income mainly includes salary, annual salary, tips, interest and dividend income, rent, royalties, trust, gambling, inheritance, annuity, alimony income, investment income and business income. Personal income tax adopts a progressive tax rate system, and the tax rate is divided into 10%, 15%, 25%, 28%, 33% and 35% according to different incomes (see Table 3).
Corporate income tax (enterprise income tax)
Enterprise income tax, also known as corporate tax, is the third largest federal tax input of the federal government after individual tax and social security welfare tax. The tax adopts a progressive tax rate system, and the tax rates are 15%, 25%, 34% and 35% respectively.
In order to expand the level of employment and increase fiscal revenue, all States have introduced investment incentive policies for legal entities, which are embodied in tax incentives. Generally speaking, state economic development promotion departments welcome companies and entities that have no pollution or less pollution, large investment, high technology content, can provide local employment opportunities and promote one's economic development, and will give more tax-free deductions in business tax, income tax and raw material purchase tax. Take Georgia as an example. According to the macro-economic development plan, the state divides the state into four regions. The first category is the least developed areas, so the incentive measures introduced are also the most favorable. Companies that invest in manufacturing, communication, warehousing and distribution, research and development, and information processing (such as data, information, software, etc.) as stipulated by the state. ) and the tourism industry can get 750-4000 dollars of credit every year for every job provided in five years. If the investment in port facilities can greatly increase the inbound and outbound transportation throughput of Georgian ports, then each job can get another $65,438+$0,250. Those who have invested in manufacturing or communications for more than three years, with an investment of more than 50,000 US dollars, can apply for investment tax concessions, accounting for 1-5% of the investment, which will be used to offset the enterprise income tax payable in the current year. For example, enterprises that invest in recyclable equipment, pollution control equipment or military and civilian production can enjoy a tax credit of 3-8%. If an investor sets up a company headquarters or branch in this state, and the investment project creates at least 50 jobs, with an investment of more than US$ 6,543.8+0,000, and the salary paid to local employees exceeds the local average wage level, he can enjoy the tax preference for setting up a company headquarters. If the salary paid to employees in China exceeds twice the local average wage level, each post can be deducted from the company's corporate income tax of $5,000 that year. The preferential period is 5 years. Part of the company's retraining expenses for hired employees can be used to offset the company's corporate income tax in the current year. In addition, the expenses paid by the company for employees to purchase and build qualified childcare facilities and venues can also be used to offset corporate income tax.
Social security and medical insurance tax (social security and medical insurance tax)
Social security, welfare and medical insurance for the elderly are also called social security tax or federal insurance contribution law tax. This tax is mainly used to provide benefits for retired workers and disabled workers and their families. Social security, welfare and medical tax for the elderly account for 15.3% of the taxpayer's wage income, and employers and employees each bear 50%, that is, 7.65%, of which social security, welfare and medical tax for the elderly account for 6.2%, 1.45%. According to the American tax law, the social security and welfare security tax in 2005 is applicable to the taxpayer's first salary of 90,000 US dollars, that is, the salary exceeding this amount (90,000 US dollars) is exempted from social security and welfare security tax, but the old-age medical care tax is applicable to all the taxpayer's wage income. Social security tax is withheld by the employer when paying wages or commissions.
Inheritance tax and gift tax.
The federal estate tax applies to the transfer of property when a citizen dies. The main difference between inheritance tax and inheritance tax is that the object of inheritance tax is inheritance, while the object of inheritance tax is immediate successor. The tax rate of inheritance tax varies from 18% to 48% according to the value of the estate. Matching the federal inheritance tax is the federal gift tax, which is mainly levied to prevent individuals from transferring their inheritance to future generations in the name of gift before their death. According to the tax law, each married couple can give each child a tax-free gift of US$ 65,438+US$ 065,438+US$ 0,000 every year, and the excess will be subject to gift tax. Because the estate can be transferred to the surviving spouse without restriction, or the estate can be transferred to charity after deducting the estate management fee, the proportion of inheritance tax and gift tax in the federal tax system is very small, accounting for only 1.3% of the total federal tax in fiscal year 2004.
Consumption tax (consumption tax)
Goods tax is a form of consumption tax, which is a tax levied on the consumption of certain goods and services rather than income. Consumption tax is a federal tax. In fiscal year 2004, the federal consumption tax revenue accounted for about 3.7% of the total federal tax revenue and 0.6% of GDP. Among them, fuel tax is the largest tax under the federal commodity consumption tax, accounting for about 30.4% of the tax revenue. Other consumption taxes include domestic civil aviation passenger tax, liquor, wine, beer, cigarettes and telephone service charges. Some of the purposes of levying consumption tax are to increase income and reduce the deficit, and some are used for highway construction and road air pollution prevention. Such as telephone service fees and fuel oil, or for the construction of highways and the prevention and control of road air pollution. Taxes, some of which reflect the social pollution caused by the use of taxable products, such as cigarette consumption tax, while others tax imported goods to ensure that the domestic similar commodity market is not affected. Most of the federal consumption tax revenue is used in different ways through trust funds, and the largest fund is the highway trust fund. Because for consumers with different incomes, the consumption tax rate is the same, and the tax level of low-income groups is relatively higher than that of high-income groups, so the tax is reduced. This tax is a federal tax,
State and local taxes (state and local taxes)
Federal tax and state tax in the United States are two different concepts. Taxpayers need to fill out different forms when filing tax returns. State and local taxes in the United States mainly come from transaction tax (such as sales tax levied by specific tax or ad valorem tax), income tax and property tax. Taxes involving ordinary citizens are mainly income tax, transaction tax, property tax and automobile fuel tax.
Each state can formulate different taxes and related tax rates according to the relevant laws and economic development level formulated by the state legislature and the adequacy of tax sources. States with higher living standards, such as the northeastern States of the United States, have higher overall tax rates than the southern States, while some States, such as Alaska, are rich in oil resources and tax sources. Not only do they have no state sales tax and income tax, but their residents can also get partial tax refund after paying taxes. Some States exempt food and medicine from sales tax, Florida from personal income tax, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washington, Wyoming and other States from personal and corporate income tax, but franchise tax or use tax may be levied. Some States stipulate that taxpayers can offset the same federal tax with some state taxes they pay (see Table 5).
According to the latest estimate of the American Tax Foundation, in 2005, the average tax burden of state and local taxes in 50 States and the District of Columbia was 10. 10%. According to the ranking data of state tax rates in 2003 calculated by the Foundation based on the sum of the main taxes in household income, the five states with the highest taxes in the United States are Maine, Washington, D.C., new york, Hawaii and Rhode Island, with tax rates of 13.0%, 12.2%, 12.0% and/kloc-0 respectively. Alaska, New Hampshire, Delaware, Tennessee and Alabama have the lowest tax rates, which are 6.4%, 7.4%, 8.0%, 8.3% and 8.7% respectively (see Table 4).
Tax exemption, credit and deduction of taxable income
Tax exemption means that taxpayers can deduct some expenses from their annual taxable income in accordance with relevant regulations when filling in the annual tax return to form an adjusted taxable income, and then pay taxes on this basis. The deductible amount of each taxpayer varies according to its annual income level and the nature of expenditure. Generally speaking, family housing mortgage, charitable donation, business expenditure, number of dependents, education expenditure and child care expenditure are all variables that can affect taxpayers' tax burden. In addition, some individual retirement accounts, retirement annuity plans of individual operators, interest on student loans, alimony, certain education expenses and resettlement expenses can also be deducted from taxable total income according to relevant regulations. According to the tax law of 1997, each child under 17 enjoys a tax credit of $400 in cash, which was adjusted several times in 200 1, 2003 and 2004. At present, the cash refund tax credit for each child is $65,438+0,000. The child and dependent care credit can use 35% of the care expenses (no more than $3,000 per child or $6,000 for two or more caregivers) to offset taxable income. When the taxpayer's adjusted total income exceeds $65,438+$05,000, the credit rate will be reduced accordingly, but at least not less than 20%. In order to encourage students to receive higher education, most of the tuition expenses of taxpayers in the first two years of undergraduate education can be used for tax credits.
Alternative minimum tax (alternative minimum tax)
Taxpayers can apply for tax reduction and deduction before the final tax return date of each year (usually April 15 of each year), according to the relevant federal and state regulations, as well as their own income and family economic burden, and finally, according to the actual tax payment situation of the previous year, refund more and make up less. However, this calculation process is very complicated, and it is usually done by a professional certified public accountant.