奧巴馬擬徵“巴菲特稅”

President Barack Obama, in a populist gesture designed to appeal to voters, will propose a "Buffett Tax" on people making more than $1 million a year as part of his deficit recommendations to Congress on Monday。

美國總統貝拉克·奧巴馬將於本週一向國會提出減赤計劃，其中建議向年收入超過百萬美元的富人徵收“巴菲特稅”。奧巴馬一向以平民姿態現身，以博得選民喜愛。

Such a proposal, among suggestions to a congressional Super Committee expected to seek up to $3 trillion in deficit savings over 10 years, would appeal to his Democratic base ahead of the 2012 election but likely not raise much in revenues。

此項建議將連同其它提議一起提交給國會“特別委員會”，目的是實現未來十年內減赤3萬億美元的目標。這在2012年總統大選前對奧巴馬所在的民主黨陣營很有吸引力，但對增加稅收效果有限。

奧巴馬擬徵“巴菲特稅”

White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer said in a tweet on Saturday the tax would act as "a kind of AMT" (Alternative Minimum Tax) aimed at ensuring millionaires pay at least as much tax as middle-class families。

白宮新聞主任丹·普費弗上週六在推特上說，這項稅收將成爲一種“最少可選擇性稅”(AMT)，旨在確保富豪所納稅款不少於中產階級家庭。

The "Buffett Tax" refers to billionaire investor Warren Buffett, who wrote earlier this year that rich people like him often pay less in tax than those who work for them due to loopholes in the taxcode, and can afford to pay more。

“巴菲特稅”來源於億萬富豪、投資大亨沃倫·巴菲特。他在前段時間發文指出，由於稅法有漏洞，像他這樣的富豪比自己的員工所繳納的稅款還要少，而他們本可以繳納更多。

Obama will lay out his recommendations in White House Rose Garden remarks at 10.30 am on Monday and is expected to urge steps to raise tax revenue as well as cuts in spending。

奧巴馬總統將於本週一上午十點半在白宮玫瑰園提出這些建議，人們估計他在敦促增稅的同時，還將建議削減支出。

But Congress is at liberty to ignore his suggestions and Republicans, who control the House of Representatives, have said that they will not agree to tax hikes。

但白宮有權不予採納，而且掌控衆議院的共和黨人已經表態，將否決增稅計劃。

The super committee of six Democrat and six Republican lawmakers must find at least $1.2 trillion in deficit savings before the end of the year to avoid painful automatic cuts, and is mandated to seek savings of up to $1.5 trillion。

“特別委員會”包括六名民主黨人和六名共和黨人，他們必須在年底前就減赤1.2萬億美元達成協議，否則將引發惱人的自動削減機制。而該委員會的任務是減赤1.5萬億。

These savings are on top of $917 billion in deficit reduction agreed in an August deal to raise the debt limit and Obama wants it to go further。

此外，今年八月，美國兩黨達成削減9170億美元支出的協議，以提高債務上限，奧巴馬總統希望可以進一步增收。

He has separately urged it to consider $450 billion in tax increases on top of this goal to pay for a jobs bill that he unveiled earlier this month。

奧巴馬在本月早些時候還提出增稅4500億美元來實行就業刺激方案，並敦促國會盡快通過。

The Buffett Tax could help energize Obama's base by highlighting a feature of the tax code that allows the super rich to pay lower rates of tax than less wealthy Americans because the bulk of their income is capital gains, dividends and the 'carried interest' earnings of hedge fund managers。

“巴菲特稅”指出，根據現有稅法，超級富豪比美國中產階級所繳納的稅率更低，因爲他們的大部分收入是資本收益、紅利、以及對衝基金經理的“附帶權益”所得。提出徵收“巴菲特稅”能爲奧巴馬陣營加油打氣。

This is taxed at 15 percent, compared to rates of 10 to 35 percent on straightforward income。

以上收入的徵稅比例爲15%，而直接收入的徵稅比例爲10%至35%。