The tax structure is also called "tax system". The classification, hierarchy, composition, proportion and the sum of their relationships within the whole tax system. It is the reflection of social and economic system and its changes in the tax field, and it is the concrete embodiment of social and economic phenomena in the tax system. Generally speaking, the tax structure mainly includes the following contents:
(1) Classification and composition of taxes in tax system.
(2) the layout and composition of taxes. That is to say, which taxes each tax is composed of, which one or several taxes are the main ones, and how to cooperate with each other.
(3) Selection and setting of tax elements (i.e. taxpayers, tax objects, tax rates, etc.). ).
(4) Taxes, tax combinations and coordination among tax collection and management levels, regions and departments.
Both the United States and China have a dual tax system, but the United States is based on income tax (direct tax) and China is based on turnover tax (indirect tax). The main reasons for the difference are: the main tax in the United States is income tax, which is the requirement of encouraging competition and free trade policy; It is a requirement to ease the contradictions among all social strata; It is the requirement of regulating the contradiction between total social demand and total supply.
In addition, there is a big gap between China and the United States in terms of both breadth and depth. From the microscopic point of view, the United States mainly adopts the way of reducing the corporate income tax rate, while China mostly adopts the preferential way to adjust. Reducing the tax rate in the United States is the operation of taxation itself, which is conducive to maintaining the standardization of taxation. China's tax reduction and exemption is more of an administrative operation, which will distort the operation of the market economy and disrupt the market economy with fair competition. This is also one of the reasons why China's income tax system is imperfect and irregular at present.
Compared with the United States, China's tax collection and management has the following defects: the way of tax collection and management is still relatively backward, and self-declaration and computer service management are not common; The tax agency system needs to be standardized and improved; The phenomenon of lax tax enforcement, ultra vires power reduction and local government intervention in tax enforcement is still widespread; Tax supervision is weak and has little effect. By comparing the main aspects of Chinese and American tax systems, we can get the following enlightenment: (1) the choice of main tax types in tax reform and construction; Reform the way of tax management and increase the proportion of tax revenue in national income; Improve the mode of tax collection and management, improve the means and methods of tax collection and management, and adhere to the rule of law.