从巴拿马文件看全球避税新动向

The war on rampant tax evasion may not be hopeless after all.

打击猖獗逃税行为的战争也许并非毫无希望。

It might not look that way after an enormous leak of documents from a Panama law firm suggesting that prominent figures worldwide have used offshore companies to hide billions of dollars. The “Panama Papers,” as they are known, seemed to underscore how hard it is for national governments to collect the taxes they are owed.

刚刚发生的泄密事件或许让这场战争的前景看起来很不乐观。从巴拿马的一家律师事务所泄露出来的大量文件显示，世界各地的显赫人物利用离岸公司藏匿了数以十亿美元计的财富。所谓的“巴拿马文件”似乎在强调，收取本属于自己的税金对各国政府而言是多么困难。

Soon after the financial crisis of 2008, governments agreed to do more to crack down on offshore tax evaders. The eye-popping articles this week — including a report linking a musician friend of Vladimir Putin’s to offshore companies — imply that countries are still struggling to keep up. It is unlikely that any amount of international cooperation can stamp out tax evasion in countries where corruption is entrenched and leaders need ways to conceal their wealth. What is more, the financial industry is well practiced at finding ways around new rules.

2008年的金融危机过后，各国政府一致决定打击离岸逃税者。本周这些令人膛目结舌的文章——包括一篇把弗拉基米尔·普京(Vladimir Putin)的一个音乐家朋友和离岸公司联系起来的报道——表明，各国仍然难以遏制这种现象。在腐败盛行、领导人需要找门路藏匿财富的国家里，不论开展多少国际合作，都无法杜绝逃税活动。更糟糕的是，金融行业非常善于钻新法规的空子。

Yet there are signs of progress. And with a tougher legal line, and the introduction next year of new international data-sharing measures from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the authorities are counting on lasting victories over the evasion industry.

不过也能看到进步的迹象。由于有了更为严格的法律界限，再加上经济合作与发展组织(Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development，简称OECD)将于明年推行国际数据分享方面的新举措，各国当局有望在打击逃税活动的战场上取得持久的胜利。

Pascal Saint-Amans, director of the O.E.C.D.’s Center for Tax Policy, said it was significant that the documents came from Mossack Fonseca, a law firm that helps individuals set up offshore companies and is based in Panama. According to the O.E.C.D., Panama has not met its transparency recommendations, which could make it attractive to people leaving offshore centers in countries that did choose to comply with the O.E.C.D. measures.

OECD税务政策负责人帕斯卡尔·圣阿芒(Pascal Saint-Amans)认为，这些文件来自一个帮助个人开设离岸公司的律所莫萨克-冯塞卡(Mossack Fonseca)，而且这家律所是在巴拿马，这一点具有重大意义。按照OECD的说法，巴拿马并未达到OECD所提倡的透明度标准，这一点格外吸引某些人，他们正在离开选择遵循OECD标准的那些国家里的离岸中心。

“You have a drop in offshore business, but a concentration of the bad business in Panama,” Mr. Saint-Amans said.

“离岸公司的数量下降了，但在巴拿马集中了不少坏公司，”圣阿芒说。

He added that, since 2011, around 20 governments have collected some $50 billion in additional taxes as a result of the anti-evasion efforts.

他还提到，自从2011年以来，对逃税行为的打击让大约20个国家的政府额外多出了500亿美元的税收收入。

Even the documents reported to be from Mossack Fonseca showed a decline in the number of offshore companies set up by the firm. Ten years ago, the number was around 13,200; in 2015 it was just over 4,300.

就连这些据说是从莫萨克-冯塞卡泄露出来的文件也显示，该律所设立的离岸公司的数量正在下降。10年前约为1.32万家，2015年则刚刚超过4300家。

Gabriel Zucman, an assistant economics professor at Berkeley, urged caution about drawing any strong conclusions from the decline in Mossack Fonseca companies. “This is just one country,” said Mr. Zucman, the author of “The Hidden Wealth of Nations,” which explores how offshore centers have enabled tax evasion and tax avoidance.

伯克利的经济学助理教授加布里埃尔·祖克曼(Gabriel Zucman)强烈建议，不要一看到莫萨克-冯塞卡设立的离岸公司有所减少就妄下定论。“这仅仅是一个国家，”著有《列国的隐藏财富》(The Hidden Wealth of Nations)一书的祖克曼说。该书揭露了离岸中心如何让逃税和避税成为可能。

But he acknowledges that progress has been made. In 2010, Congress passed the Foreign Tax Compliance Act, which requires foreign banks to share information with the Internal Revenue Service about accounts of United States citizens, and imposes financial penalties if they don’t. Mr. Zucman has said that the law seems to have been a deterrent, contending, however, that countries continuing to hold out may need to face far tougher measures, like tariffs.

但他承认事情取得了进展。2010年美国国会通过了《海外账户纳税法案》(Foreign Tax Compliance Act)，该法案要求外国银行与美国国税局(Internal Revenue Service)分享美国公民的账户信息，不予配合者会受到经济处罚。祖克曼一直表示，该法案似乎产生了一定的威慑性，不过他也主张针对继续作壁上观的国家实施更为严厉的举措，比如提高关税。

The O.E.C.D., for its part, argues that its data-sharing initiative, once up and running, will be effective. Its program asks banks to share data on foreign clients, in theory enabling tax authorities to identify the actual person using an offshore account or company.

OECD方面认为，它的数据分享项目一旦落到实处，就会见到成效。该项目要求银行分享与外国客户有关的数据，从理论上来说这可以让税务机构找出离岸账户或离岸公司的实际使用人。

Mr. Zucman is skeptical that the bankers will sufficiently comply. “They have been serving criminals and tax evaders — and they’ve being doing that for decades,” he said.

祖克曼怀疑银行从业者并不会全力配合。“他们一直在为罪犯和逃税者服务——而且是几十年如一日地这样做，”他说。

But the crux of the new strategy is that the onus for detecting evaders will fall on the governments themselves — which will then have more information and presumably have the greatest incentive to claim the missing taxes.

不过，这一新策略的关键在于，查出逃税者的责任落在了政府自己头上——它们届时会得到更多信息，而它们追讨流失税收的动力想必比任何人都大。