The allocation of rights and responsibilities is more reasonable, and the division of income is more standardized——
The reform of the fiscal system below the provincial level is accelerated
Recently, the General Office of the State Council issued the "Guiding Opinions on Further Promoting the Reform of the Financial System Below the Province" (hereinafter referred to as the "Opinions"), which put forward a series of important policy measures for promoting the reform of the financial system below the provincial level.
The main content of the fiscal system includes the division of fiscal powers and expenditure responsibilities, the division of income, and the transfer payment system, which is to clarify a series of basics such as who will do the "things" between governments at all levels, who will pay the "money", and how the income will be distributed. institutional issues.
With the release of the "Opinions", the reform of the fiscal system below the provincial level has entered the "fast lane".
Optimize the allocation of rights and responsibilities
"The financial system below the provincial level is an integral part of the inter-governmental financial relationship system. It plays an important role in establishing and improving a scientific fiscal and taxation system, optimizing resource allocation, maintaining market unity, promoting social equity, and achieving long-term national stability." The relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Finance said.
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the reform of the division of fiscal powers and expenditure responsibilities between the central and local governments has been advanced in depth, the division of revenue between the central and local governments has been further rationalized, and the fiscal transfer payment system has been continuously improved. , some problems are more prominent, such as the unreasonable division of fiscal powers and expenditure responsibilities, and the unstandardized division of income.
"Our country implements the financial management system of 'unified leadership and hierarchical management'. The "Opinions" are of great significance to promoting the reform of the financial system below the provincial level, which is conducive to improving and regulating the financial system framework below the provincial level, accelerating the construction of a unified national market, and promoting basic public services. Equalization, and better play the fundamental and important pillar role of finance in national governance." said Bai Jingming, a researcher at the China Academy of Finance and Economics.
Yang Zhiyong, vice president of the Institute of Financial and Economic Strategy of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, believes that the release of the "Opinions" means that the reform of the modern fiscal and taxation system is accelerating, and the reform of the fiscal system below the provincial level is steadily advancing in the direction of modernizing national governance.
In order to promote the formation of a stable system in which the powers, expenditure responsibilities and financial resources of governments at all levels are adapted, effectively solve the problems of unreasonable division of fiscal powers and expenditure responsibilities below the provincial level, and accelerate the reform of the division of fiscal powers and expenditure responsibilities below the provincial level, the "Opinions" ” defines a series of reform measures.
Financial powers below the provincial level are divided according to the attributes of powers.
On the basis of the attributes of powers, following the principles of the scope of benefit of basic public services and the complexity of information management, the division of financial powers below the provincial level shall be promoted according to the characteristics of the administrative management of governments at all levels, so as to avoid the offside or absence of functions and management caused by the misallocation of powers.
This reform moderately strengthens provincial fiscal authority.
For affairs that require cross-regional overall coordination or have strong externalities, moderately strengthen provincial-level responsibilities, and give better play to the provincial-level role in overall planning, cross-regional coordination, comprehensive regulation, and unified management.
For the basic public services directly facing the grassroots, the grassroots government provides more convenient and effective basic public services, which is clearly defined as the fiscal authority at the city and county level, and gives full play to the advantages of the city and county governments being close to the grassroots and managing nearby.
Specifically, moderately strengthen education, scientific and technological research and development, basic pension insurance for enterprise employees, basic medical insurance for urban and rural residents, food security, planning and construction of major infrastructure across cities and counties, ecological environmental protection and governance in key areas (watersheds), land and space planning and Provincial-level fiscal powers in terms of use control, prevention, and supervision and resolution of local government debt risks.
Basic public services such as social security, municipal transportation, urban and rural construction, rural roads, and management of public facilities, which directly face the grassroots and are provided by grassroots governments, are more convenient and effective, and are determined as the fiscal authority at the city and county levels.
At the same time, expenditure responsibilities shall be clarified according to the division of fiscal authority.
"According to the division of inter-governmental financial powers, the expenditure responsibilities of the finance at all levels below the province should be reasonably determined. Except for the common financial powers that are jointly borne by the upper and lower levels, other financial powers should perform their own duties and assume their own responsibilities." The Ministry of Finance is responsible for People say.
Straighten out income relationships
Reasonable division of fiscal revenue is conducive to better mobilizing the enthusiasm of governments at all levels, ensuring that grass-roots finance has a stable source of income, and laying a foundation for promoting the equalization of basic public services.
Yang Zhiyong believes that a more standardized government revenue division is conducive to promoting a relatively balanced distribution of financial resources.
The "Opinions" clarified the reform measures to improve the division of income below the provincial level. Among them, "dividing income with reference to the attributes of tax types" is an important principle.
"Insist on using tax attributes as the basic basis for income division. Under the premise of not distorting the market, governments at all levels should be able to obtain stable income, which will help strengthen income management and promote regional income balance." The relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Finance said.
The "Opinions" propose that the tax revenue with strong tax base liquidity, uneven distribution among regions, and large annual income fluctuation should be regarded as provincial revenue or shared by the provincial level in a higher proportion; Tax revenue as city and county level revenue or share a higher proportion by city and county level.
It is worth noting that the income of enterprises in some industries is balanced.
Taking into account the cross-regional operation of finance, electricity, petroleum, railways, highways, etc., but the income payment is relatively concentrated, if all its income is left to the place where the enterprise is registered, it will exacerbate the income gap between regions, and it is also easy to be affected by income fluctuations. The smooth operation of county and district finances has had an impact.
The "Opinions" propose that taxes and fees in the fields of finance, electricity, petroleum, railways, and expressways can be used as provincial-level income, and can also be reasonably distributed among relevant cities and counties.
In addition, the division of revenue by business affiliation is phased out.
After the 2002 income tax revenue sharing reform, the practice of dividing income according to corporate affiliation has been abolished in most regions, but some places still continue this practice.
"This kind of practice is likely to cause local governments to intervene in the operation of market entities in order to protect tax sources, which is not conducive to maintaining a fair and competitive market environment." said the relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Finance.
In terms of standardizing the way of income sharing, the "Opinions" make it clear that the main tax types shall be shared proportionally, and the non-tax income can be shared by total, classified, incremental and other sharing methods, which will be gradually standardized.
The policy of tax rebate, tax reduction and fee reduction is an important measure to deepen the supply-side structural reform, which plays an important role in reducing the burden on enterprises, stimulating the vitality of micro-subjects, and promoting economic growth.
The "Opinions" propose that taxes and fees should be collected in accordance with laws and regulations, and the policy of tax rebates, tax reductions and fee reductions should be strictly implemented.
"The reform of the fiscal system below the provincial level is conducive to promoting the implementation of various fiscal policies such as tax rebates, tax reductions and fee reductions through measures such as clarifying the allocation of powers and responsibilities and standardizing the division of income." Bai Jingming said.
Regulate transfer payments
The main role of transfer payment is to adjust the financial imbalance, especially in some economically underdeveloped cities and counties, which need higher-level transfer payment to make up for the lack of financial resources, how to improve the scientificity and effectiveness of transfer payment, and promote the allocation efficiency and use of transfer payment funds benefit?
The "Opinions" require that the functional positioning of various transfer payments be clarified.
According to the nature of fiscal authority, increase support for areas with weak financial resources, and improve the regular assessment mechanism for transfer payments.
For example, general transfer payments are used to balance the allocation of basic financial resources among regions, and are inclined to old revolutionary base areas, ethnic areas, frontier areas, underdeveloped areas, and important functional areas that are responsible for national security, ecological protection, and the production of grain and important agricultural products. No specific purpose of expenditure is specified, and the use shall be arranged and used by the lower-level government.
Special transfer payments are used to handle specific matters, guide lower-level officials to start businesses, etc., and the lower-level government should arrange and use it according to the purposes stipulated by the higher-level government.
In terms of optimizing the transfer payment structure, the "Opinions" propose that, centering on the goal of "keeping the bottom line, promoting balance, and maintaining key points", the transfer payment structure below the provincial level should be adjusted, the horizontal and vertical financial resources should be optimized, the financial resources should be lowered, and the grassroots public service guarantee capabilities should be enhanced. , to promote the implementation of major decisions and deployments of the central government.
"The establishment of a standardized financial transfer payment system below the provincial level must fully consider the needs of governments at all levels to provide basic public services, especially the financial guarantee of the grass-roots 'three guarantees', so as to effectively improve local basic public services." Yang Zhiyong said.
The more scientific and reasonable the allocation of funds is, the better the allocation and use of funds can be improved.
The "Opinions" require that, in accordance with standardized management methods, the factor method or the project method are mainly used to allocate various types of transfer payment funds around policy objectives.
The "Opinions" require that the government should implement the requirements of the government to live a tight life and adhere to the principle of diligence and thrift.
"This is to take the government's tight living as a long-term policy, and to promote the idea of local governments to be diligent and thrifty in all undertakings. In the arrangement and distribution of transfer payment funds, it is not only reasonably guaranteed, but also strictly economical. Use it on the edge of the knife and in the most important places, and don’t spend a cent of the money that should not be spent, to prevent the transfer payment funds from being used to illegally build buildings, engage in performance projects and image projects, and spend extravagantly.” The Ministry of Finance related said the person in charge.
The allocation and use of funds must pay attention to efficiency, and "spend money to ask for efficiency".
The "Opinions" require that the allocation of transfer payment funds should be linked to the cost of basic public services provided by lower-level governments, and at the same time fully consider the efforts of lower-level governments, strengthen performance management, and appropriately reflect incentives and constraints.
"This document reflects the unity and standardization of the reform. In the next step, all localities should refine various policies according to the spirit of the document, and adopt differentiated measures according to local conditions to promote the practical implementation of the reform." Bai Jingming said.
Zeng Jinhua