CLASSIFICATION OF TAXESThe Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) (Организация экономического сотрудничества и развития) publishes perhaps the most comprehensive analysis of worldwide tax systems. In order to do this it has created a comprehensive categorization of all taxes in all regimes which it covers: 1. Income Tax (налог на прибыль, подоходный налог). An income tax is a tax on earnings - money that individuals, corporations, trusts, or other legal entities receive in different ways and from different sources. Generally, the tax will be charged on personal earnings (wages), capital gains,and business income. 2. Retirement tax (пенсионный налог). Some countries with social security systems, which provide income to retired workers, fund those systems with specific dedicated (специализированный) taxes. These often differ from comprehensive income taxes in that they are levied only on specific sources of income, generally wages and salary (in which case they are called payroll taxes (налог на фонд заработной платы)). A further difference is that the total amount of the taxes paid by or on behalf of a worker is typically considered in the calculation of the retirement benefits to which that worker is entitled. 3. Capital gains tax (налог на прирост капитала). A capital gains tax (abbreviated: CGT) is a tax charged on capital gains, the profit realized on the sale of an asset that was purchased at a lower price. The most common capital gains are realized from the sale of stocks, bonds, precious metals, and property. Not all countries implement a capital gains tax and most have different rates of taxation for individuals and corporations. 4. Corporate tax (корпоративный налог). A corporate tax refers to a tax levied by various jurisdictions on the profits made by companies or associations. As a general principle, the tax varies substantiallybetween jurisdictions. In particular allowances for capital expenditure and the amount of interest payments that can be deductedfrom gross profitswhen working out the tax liabilityvary substantially. Also, tax rates may vary depending on whether profits have been distributed to shareholders or not. Profits which have been reinvested may not be taxed. 5. Poll tax (подушный налог). A poll tax, also called a per capita tax, or capitation tax, is a tax that levies a set amount per individual. Poll taxes are administratively cheap because they are easy to compute and collect and difficult to cheat. Economists have considered poll taxes economically efficient because people are presumed to be in fixedsupply. However, poll taxes are very unpopular because they are strongly regressive (poorer people pay a higher proportion of their income than richer people). In addition, the supply of people is in fact not fixed over time: on average, couples will choose to have fewer children if a poll taxis imposed. 6. Excises (акцизы). Excise taxes are based on the quantity, not the value, of product purchased. Excises (or exemptions from them) are also used to modify consumptionpatterns. For example, a high excise is used to discourage alcohol consumption, relative to other goods. 7. Sales tax (налог с продаж). A sales tax is a consumptiontax charged at the point of purchase for certain goods and services. The tax is usually set as a percentage by the government charging the tax. There is usually a list of exemptions. The tax can be included in the price (tax-inclusive - включенный в цену) or added at the point of sale (tax-exclusive - взимаемый в месте продаж). Ideally, a sales tax is fair, is difficult to avoid, is charged exactly once on any one item, and is simple to calculate and simple to collect. A conventional or retail sales tax (налог на розничную продажу) attempts to achieve this by charging the tax only on the final end user, unlike a gross receipts tax (налог на валовой доход) levied on the intermediate business that purchases materials for production or ordinary operating expenses prior to delivering a service or product to the marketplace. This prevents so-called tax "cascading" or "pyramiding", in which an item is taxed more than once as it makes its way from production to final retail sale. 8. Tariffs (тарифы). An import or export tariff (also called customs duty or impost ) is a charge for the movement of goods through a political border. Tariffs discourage trade, and they may be used by governments to protect domestic industries. A proportion of tariff revenues is often hypothecated to pay government to maintain a navy or border police. The classic ways of cheating a tariff are smugglingor declaring a false value of goods. 9. Toll Tax (налоговый сбор). A toll is a tax or fee charged to travel via a road, bridge, tunnel, or other route. Historically tolls have been used to pay for state bridge, road and tunnel projects. They have also been used in privately constructed transport links. The toll is likely to be a fixed charge,possibly graduated for vehicle type, or for distance on long routes. 10. Use taxes (налог за использование). A use tax is a type of excise tax levied in the United States. It is assessed upon otherwise "tax free" tangible personal propertypurchased by a resident of the assessing state for use, storage, or consumption of goods in that state (not for resale), regardless of where the purchase took place. The use tax is typically assessed at the same rate as the sales tax that would have been owed (if any) had the same goods been purchased in the state of residence. Typical purchases that require payment of use tax include those done while traveling (for things carried or sent home), through mail order, or purchases via telephone or the Internet. 11. Value added tax (налог на добавленную стоимость). A value added tax (VAT), also known as "Goods and Services Tax" (G.S.T.), or Sales Tax, Business Tax, or Turnover Tax in some countries, applies the equivalent of a sales tax to every operation that creates value. VAT was historically used when a sales tax or excise tax was uncollectible. By collecting the tax at each production level, and requiring the previous production level to collect the next level tax in order to recover the VAT previously paid by that production level, the theory is that the entire economy helps in the enforcement. In reality, forged invoicesand the like demonstrate that tax evaders will always attempt to cheat the system. 12. Property taxes (налог на собственность). A property tax is a tax imposed on property by reason of its ownership. A property tax is usually levied on the value of property owned, usually real estate. Property taxes may be charged on a recurrentbasis (e.g. yearly). A common type of property tax is an annual charge on the ownership of real estate, where the tax base is the supposed value of the property. The two most common types of event driven property taxes are stamp duty,charged upon change of ownership, and inheritance tax,which is imposed in many countries on the estates of the deceased. In contrast with a tax on buildings, a land value tax (земельный налог) is levied only on the unimproved value of the land ("land" in this instance may mean either the economic term, i.e. all natural resources, or the natural resources associated with specific areas of the earth's surface: "lots" or "land parcels"). 13. Personal property tax (налог на движимое имущество). In many jurisdictions (including many American states), there is a general tax levied periodically on residents who own personal property within the jurisdiction. Vehicle and boat registration fees are subsets of this kind of tax. Usually, the tax is designed with blanket coverage but with large exceptions for obvious things like food and clothing. Household goods are exemptas long as they are kept or used within the household. However, any otherwise non-exempt objectcan lose its exemption if regularly kept outside the household. Thus, tax collectors often monitor newspaper articles for stories about wealthy people who have lent art to museums for public display, because the artworks have then become subject to personal property tax. And if an artwork had to be sent to another state for some touch-ups, it may have become subject to personal property tax in that state as well. 14. Transfer taxes (Налог на передачу (перевод). A transfer tax is a tax on the passing of title to property from one person (or entity) to another. A transfer tax is essentially a transaction fee (often relatively small in relation to the value of property) imposed on the transfer of title to property. This kind of tax is typically imposed where there is a legal requirement for registration of the transfer, such as transfers of real estate, shares, or bond. Examples of such taxes include some forms of stamp duty, real estate transfer tax (налог на недвижимость),and levies for the formal registration of a transfer. In some jurisdictions, transfers of certain forms of property require confirmation by a notary.While notarial fees may add to the cost of the transaction, they are not a transfer tax in the strict sense of the term. 15. Inheritance tax (налог на наследство). Inheritance tax, estate tax, and death tax or duty, are the names given to various taxes which arise on the death of an individual. In the United States tax law, there is a distinction between an estate tax (налог на собственность, оставленную по завещанию) and an inheritance tax: the former taxes the personal representatives of the deceased, while the latter taxes the beneficiaries of the estate. However, this distinction does not apply in other jurisdictions; for example, if using this terminology, UK inheritance tax would be an estate tax. 16. Wealth (net worth) tax (налог с собственного капитала предприятия). Because of the broad term "wealth", property tax, capital transfer taxes (inheritance tax, estate tax, gift tax), endowment tax, and capital gains taxes are sometimes referred to as "wealth taxes".It may be called, or known as, a "Capital Tax", an "Equity Tax", a "Net Worth Tax", a "Net Wealth Tax", or just a "Wealth Tax". Some countries' governments will require declaration of the tax payers' balance sheet (assets and liabilities), and from that exact a tax on net worth (assets minus liabilities), as a percentage of the net worth, orapercentage of the net worth exceeding a certain level.
1. Answer the following questions:
1. What is OECD? 2. What is an income tax charged on? 3. What is the difference between income and retirement taxes? 4. What is a corporate gains tax? 5. What does a corporate tax refer to? 6. What are the main characteristics of a poll tax? 7. Why are excises used? 8. What is a sales tax? 9. What are the effects of tariffs? 10. What tax can be charged while traveling? 11. What is a use tax assessed upon? 12. What does a value added tax apply? 13. What is a common type of a property tax? What is a land value tax? 14. Are there any exemptions from a personal property tax? 15. What are the examples of a transfer tax? 16. What are the names of the taxes which arise on the death of an individual? 17. What is wealth tax?
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