来源：《每日电讯报》
原文刊登日期：2022年1月6日
One way to hold back the precipitous rise in gas and electricity bills would be to cut VAT on energy. This is levied at five per cent, a legacy of the UK’s membership of the EU and one that Boris Johnson promised to abolish during the referendum campaign in 2016.
遏制天然气和电费急剧上涨的一种方法是削减能源增值税。该税率为5%，这是英国脱欧前作为欧盟成员国遗留下来的，也是鲍里斯·约翰逊在2016年脱欧公投期间承诺废除的。
In an article in The Sun newspaper, he wrote: “When we vote Leave we will be able to scrap this unfair tax.” He was reminded of this at the Downing Street press conference on Monday but was no longer wedded to the idea. “The difficulty,” he said, “is that you end up cutting bills for a lot of people who perhaps don’t need the support in quite the direct way that we need to give it. We need to help people who are in fuel poverty the most.”
在《太阳报》的一篇文章中，约翰逊写道；“当我们投票脱欧时，我们将能够废除这种不公平的税收。”周一在唐宁街的新闻发布会上，有人提醒他写的这番话，但他不再执着于这个想法。“困难在于，”他说，“你最终为许多人削减了开支，但这些人可能不需要我们提供的直接支持。我们需要帮助那些最买不起燃料的人。”
It is true that VAT makes up a small proportion of total bills and that removing it would disproportionately help better off people. The Government is also pursuing a zero carbon policy which is responsible for about 25 per cent of household energy bills through levies.
的确，增值税只占总账单的一小部分，取消它将不成比例地帮助更富裕的人。政府还在推行零碳政策，这方面的征税约占家庭能源账单的25%。
But the Prime Minister’s answer betrays a disconcerting view of how the tax system should work. He appears to regard it as something to be targeted on the poor, like welfare benefits, a view that sees the state as the ultimate arbiter of how we should spend our money. It also assumes that middle-class taxpayers should continue to pick up the bills without complaint as though they don’t also feel the pinch of higher living costs.
但首相的回答暴露了他对税收系统应该如何运作的一种令人不安的看法。他似乎认为这是针对穷人的事情，就像福利一样，他认为政府是我们应该如何花钱的最终仲裁者。它还假设，中产阶级纳税人应该继续毫无怨言地买单，就好像他们对更高的生活成本没有感觉一样。
Moreover, since the Treasury is receiving substantial extra cash as a result of the energy price rises, removing VAT would be revenue neutral. It would be a signal that the Government understands concerns about energy costs but would also be a statement of intent about other taxes. Notably, these include the rise in National Insurance contributions planned for the spring in time to add to the cost of living shock that faces millions of voters then when the cap is removed from energy bills.
此外，由于能源价格上涨，财政部获得了大量额外现金，取消增值税将是税收中性的。这将是一个信号，表明政府理解对能源价格的担忧，但也将是对其他税收的意向声明。值得注意的是，这些措施包括计划在春季增加国民保险缴款，这会加大数百万选民在能源价格上限取消时面临的生活成本冲击。
The NIC increase was sold to the country as an “NHS premium” to pump money into health to make up the costs of the pandemic. A far better way to do that would be to scrap the planned rise and divert the billions of pounds being wasted on anti-Covid measures like mass daily testing of “key” workers which is just adding to the problems in the health system and in many other walks of life. These issues will all come to a head in a few short months. Does Mr Johnson have a plan for dealing with them?
增加国民健康保险费被当作“NHS保费”向国家兜售，以向卫生系统注入资金，弥补疫情造成的成本。更好的办法是取消计划中的增加保费，不要将数十亿英镑浪费在某些防疫措施上，比如对“关键”员工进行日常大规模检测，这只会加剧卫生系统和许多其他行业的问题。这些问题将在短短几个月内达到顶点。约翰逊先生有处理这些问题的计划吗？