Unit 8 Paying Taxes
Lead-in
Identify the pictures below.Match them with the words in the box.
Section A
Dialogue 1
Linda, an employee of Hope Company, is asking her salary from John, the bookkeeper of the company.Here is the conversation between Linda and John.
L=Linda J=John
L: John, are you available now?
J: Yes, just few minutes.What’s up, Linda?
L: Well, John.Here I have some questions about my salary and I need your help to figure them out.
J: Oh, I would love to help.So, what’s your problem?
L: This is my first paid month, and the Human Resources Specialist told me in the job fair that my monthly salary should be around ¥5,000.
J: Yeah, that’s right.
L: While I just got about ¥3,700.There is over ¥1,000 margin.
J: Yes, then?
L: And I want to know how did this happened, please.
J: Oh, yeah.Don’t worry, lady.Many new employees have the same problem with you.
L: Do they?
J: Yes, they do.In fact, the ¥5,000 is the gross salary, the ¥3,700 that you got had already deducted all kinds of taxes and insurances which is your net income.
L: Oh, I don’t know that before.
J: Well, sorry.I have to work now.If you want to know more, you can come tomorrow, and I’ll tell you more details about your salary.Okay?
L: Yeah, thank you very much.See you tomorrow, John.
J: See you, Linda.
New Words
Phrases and Expressions
figure out 理解，领会到
human resources specialist 人事专员
job fair 招聘会
in fact 事实上
net income 净收入
Dialogue 2
Tom, a specialist of Personnel Department, is going to tell something about five insurances and one fund to Linda, a new employee of Hope Company.Here is the conversation between him and Linda.
T=Tom L=Linda
T: (A lady coming in) Hi, are you Linda?
L: Yes, I’m Linda.
T: Great! I’m the colleague of John, Tom.
L: Good to see you, Tom.
T: Well, John has a business trip today.
L: Okay.So, I can’t see him today?
T: Right.But before he went to business trip, he asked me to explain something for you instead.
L: Oh, that’s so thoughtful of him.And you’re so kind too!
T: Now, I introduce five insurances and housing fund for you.
L: Oh, great.I just wondering what are they for quite a long time.
T: Five insurances include: endowment insurance, medical insurance, unemployment insurance, employment injury insurance and maternity insurance.They account for approximately 11% of your gross salary.
L: Wow, I see.
T: The housing fund is used for repaying housing loan.
L: Got it! Tom, much appreciated!
T: You’re welcome.
New Words
Phrases and Expressions
business trip 出差
five insurances and housing fund 五险一金
account for 占
Exercise 1
Decide whether the following statements are true (T) or false (F) according to the dialogues.
□ 1.Linda has been paid for several months.
□ 2.Tom told Linda that she can get ¥5000 per month.
□ 3.John and Linda are not in the same department of Hope Company.
□ 4.John knows five insurances and housing fund clearly.
□ 5.Tom works for financial department.
Exercise 2
Oral practice: Pair work.Use the questions below to ask your partner.Then change roles.
1.Do you know why you cannot get gross salary?
2.Do you know what kinds of taxes and insurances that you need pay?
3.Do you know what are the five insurances?
4.How much do you need to pay for five insurances if your gross salary is ¥10,000 per month?
5.Do you know the usage of the housing fund?
Exercise 3
Practical activity: Work in groups.
Suppose you are a human resource specialist and employees.Now specialist need to explain the usage of five insurances and housing fund and their percentages in gross salary to employees.And employees can ask some questions about salary things.The result of the discussion will be reported to the whole class.
Section B
Why do We Have Taxes?
Taxes, which are the main source of federal, state and local government revenues, pay for buildings, public education, highways, airplanes, rockets, road signs, and the salaries of millions of government employees.Large amounts of tax revenues are raised from levies on personal incomes, including investment income.The federal income tax is structured to tax different levels of income at different rates, on a gradually increasing scale.
There are several very common types of taxes:
Income Tax: a percentage of individual or corporate earnings filed to the federal government.
Sales Tax: taxes levied on certain goods and services.
Property Tax: based on the value of land and property assets.
Tariff: taxes on imported goods imposed in the aim of strengthening internal businesses.
Taxes are an important aspect of nearly every person’s life.Your paycheck is adjusted for taxes.Contributions to charitable organizations are no doubt influenced by the expected tax savings.Taxes affect the cost of owning a home, and tax considerations probably also influence the votes that are cast in local, state and national elections.Taxation of investment income is also an important consideration when deciding upon which investments to purchase, especially if you earn a substantial income that’s taxed at a high rate.
(https://www.daowen.com)
Only without governments would there be no taxes; therefore, without taxes there would be no governments.Taxation is one of the several ways by which governments raise money to pay for the goods and services that they are called on to provide.Governments lack the major sources of revenue available to other sectors of the economy and must therefore rely on taxes to finance the majority of their expenditures.Unlike businesses, governments generally produce very few goods and services that can be sold, especially at a profit.In addition, governments don’t have wage and investment income as do individuals and families.Without these sources of income, governments have little choice but to finance their spending needs by assessing businesses as well as individuals.
Governments are continually searching for additional funds to pay for the needs of their citizens, businesses, and bureaucrats.At the local level, taxes support spending for schools’ roads, libraries, athletic facilities, fire and police services, and the salaries of county and municipal employees.States collect taxes for highway construction and upkeep, public colleges, buildings, and law enforcement.The federal government levies taxes in order to provide its citizens with an interstate highway system, a capable military force, health services, an Internal Revenue Service, thousands of parks and monuments, and scores of other things.
Taxation, however, is not the only means by which governments finance their spending.They also levy a variety of user and service fees to pay for parks, bridges, transit systems, parking complexes and sports stadiums, where the users rather than taxpayers are expected to bear the operating costs of the facilities.These fees, however, are frequently supplemented by special taxes.In addition, governments at all levels regularly borrow funds to augment their tax revenues.In the 1980s and 1990s, the federal government borrowed billions and billions of dollars annually to pay for expenditures that exceeded the billions and billions of dollars that it took in from tax revenues.
In summation, although unpopular (and many may argue, unfair), taxes are a necessity.The standard of living of a modern society demands it; governments must collect the revenues in order to provide the goods and services that their citizens need, want and demand.
New Words
Phrases and Expressions
government employee 政府雇员
investment income 投资收入
property tax 财产税
be influenced by 被……影响
national election 全国大选
the majority of 大多数的
additional fund 额外资金
law enforcement 法律的实施
interstate highway system 洲际高速公路
billions and billions 万亿的
in order to 为了
Exercise 1
Choose the best answer to each of the following questions.
1.Which of the following is NOT belongs to common taxes?
A.Income tax. B.Property tax.
C.Special tax. D.Sales tax.
2.Which of the following is true about tax?
A.Taxes is collected by all levels of government.
B.The more you earn, the less you pay taxes.
C.You can refuse to pay tax if you want.
D.There is no business between your paycheck and tax.
3.Why we need to pay tax?
A.Because government cannot earn money by itself.
B.Because government need money to support citizens’ needs.
C.Because government wants to use money build beautiful constructions.
D.Because government has to pay employees salary.
4.The following are all expenditure ways of revenue EXCEPT?
A.Maintain highway.
B.Build constructions.
C.Pay salary of government employees.
D.Buy foods.
5.If you buy a car imported from USA, what kind of tax do you need to pay?
A.Tariff.
B.Investment tax.
C.Property tax.
D.Sales tax and tariff.
Exercise 2
Fill in the blanks with the words given below.Change the form where necessary.
1.I won’t_______my money in his company.
2.Only human beings are_______of speech.
3.If_______, please warehouse the goods.
4.The nation_______all able-bodied man for the war.
5.They did so under the mask of_______.
6.New economic development policies led to_______and rapid growth.
7.Don’t_______your will on the child, please.
8.There is very little_______in selling newspapers at present.
9.Tickets must be_______two weeks in advance.
10.There are few recreational_______in our school.
Exercise 3
Translate the following sentences into Chinese.
1.Taxes, which are the main source of federal, state and local government revenues, pay for buildings, public education, highways, airplanes, rockets, road signs, and the salaries of millions of government employees.
2.The federal income tax is structured to tax different levels of income at different rates, on a gradually increasing scale.
3.Governments lack the major sources of revenue available to other sectors of the economy and must therefore rely on taxes to finance the majority of their expenditures.
4.At the local level, taxes support spending for schools’ roads, libraries, athletic facilities, fire and police services, and the salaries of county and municipal employees.
5.In the 1980s and 1990s, the federal government borrowed billions and billions of dollars annually to pay for expenditures that exceeded the billions and billions of dollars that it took in from tax revenues.
课文译文
为什么我们要缴税？
税收是联邦、州和地方政府收入的主要来源，会被用于支付公共建筑物、公共教育、高速公路、飞机、火箭、路标的建设花费以及用于支付数百万政府雇员的工资。大额税收主要来源于征收个税，包括个人投资收入。联邦个人所得税针对不同收入水平的人按不同的税率进行征税，收入越高征税越多。
常见的税有以下几种：
所得税：交给联邦政府的个人或是公司收入的一部分。
销售税：对某些商品和服务征收的税。
物业税：根据土地和财产的价值征收的税。
关税：为了增强国内商业竞争力而针对进口货物征收的税。
税收在每个人生活中都占据着重要地位。您的薪水将根据税收进行调整。对慈善组织的捐款毫无疑问会达到减税的效果。税收会影响拥有房产的成本，而税收方面的考虑也可能影响地方、州和全国选举投票的结果。在决定选择哪些投资时，投资收益税也是一个重要的考虑因素，特别是如果您赚取高额收入时，税率也会随之升高。
只有没有政府才会没有税收。因此，可以说没有税收就没有政府。税收是政府筹集资金用以支付它们所要求提供的商品和服务的方式之一。政府不像其他经济部门有主要的收入来源，因此必须依靠税收来支付大部分的花费。与企业不同的是，政府生产的可供出售并获利的商品和服务是非常少的。此外，政府也没有个人和家庭的工资和投资收入。又因为无法像企业、个人和家庭拥有这些收入来源，政府只能通过评估企业和个人的收入并对其加以征税以此达到为政府的支出提供资金的目的，除此之外别无他法。
政府不断寻找额外的资金来满足公民，企业和行政体系的需要。在地方一级政府，税收用于支付学校道路、图书馆、体育设施建设花费，同时消防和警察服务以及县市雇员的工资也靠税收支持。国家征收的税金会用在高速公路建设和维护、公立学院运营、建筑物维护运营和加强执法上。联邦政府的税收收入，不但会用于为公民提供便利的州际高速公路系统建设，还会用于发展可靠的军事力量和医疗服务。国内税收服务，给公民带来数以千计的各式公园和纪念碑，还有许多其他便利条件。
然而，税收并不是政府为其支出提供资金的唯一手段。他们还向不同群体和服务征收费用，用以支付预期使用者而不是纳税人需要承担的公园、桥梁、运输系统、停车场和体育场馆设施的运营成本。但是，这些费用通常由特殊的税收来补充。另外，各级政府也经常通过借钱的方式增加税收。在20世纪80年代和90年代，联邦政府每年会借数以万亿计的美元来支付超过本来的税收收入的万亿美元支出。
总之，虽然缴税并不受欢迎（许多人可能会认为不公平），但税收是必要的。这是现代社会生活的要求，政府只有征税，才能为公民提供其需要的、想要的、要求的商品和服务。
References
[1]MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands: FinancialWeb [EB/OL].[2016-04-25].https://www.finweb.com/taxes/why-do-we-have-taxes.html.
[2]Investopedia, LLC: Why do we have taxes [EB/OL].[2014-07-25].https://www.investopedia.com/terms/t/taxes.asp.
