Discussion On Establishing The Law System Of Inheritance Tax In China

Inheritance tax is a kind of tax whose objection of taxation is property that the dead left over. It has been widely accepted and practiced by most developed countries and some developing countries around the word, since it has set up in Holland in 1598. Inheritance tax is an important measure for people and country, which helps to readjust the distribution of personal property, and narrow the gap between the poor and the rich. But in China, we still haven't had this kind of tax yet. These years, it is a fact that the disparity of individual income and the gap between the poor and the rich are increasingly enlarging, with the fast development of economic construction and the establishment and perfection of the socialist market economic system in China. So, the establishment of the law system of inheritance tax in China has become a hot issue among experts and common people. Although Hong Kong has already cancelled inheritance tax formally from Feb. 11, 2006, U.S.A also plan to cancel it progressively before 2010, and Italy, Sweden, India, Malaysia, New Zealand and Australia have successively called off the inheritance tax. But we should realize the necessity and feasibility of constructing the legal system of the inheritance tax in our country. On the one hand, Inheritance tax helps to add financial income, realize the social equality and perfect the taxation, and thus the legislation is under way. On the other hand, with the perfection of law system in our country, we have set up some relevant laws and regulations, such as inheritance. This wholly contributes to the establishment and implementation of inheritance tax. Thus, it is now practical and feasible for China to set up an inheritance taxation system. So, we should use foreign experience for reference, draw their lesson, construct the legal system of inheritance tax which accords with the fundamental realities of our country, For example, we should choose general inheritance tax system pattern and"merged mode"with gift tax. We still should design the key element of inheritance tax scientifically, such as starting point of taxation, rate of taxation, etc. and improve laws and regulations which are mutually related against the inheritance duty. The inheritance tax is still being confronted with a series of problems, but we believe that with the fast development of our country economy and the continuous improvement of tax system,it will become a kind of good tax of our country.This paper plans to carry on research as the starting point with the legal system history and development of inheritance tax in our country, analyze its current situation and reason of suffering cold reception in the world, and discuss if we should levy the inheritance tax in right time or not, thus obtain the necessity and feasibility of constructing the legal system of the inheritance tax in our country. And then the paper use foreign successful experience for reference, and makes analyses and discussions on the relevant issues of how to establish the inheritance tax law system in line with our national realities for four aspects: grounds of the law system, modes of taxation, Concrete system design and relevant law and regulations.