Taxes are obviously necessary in order for a society to provide public goods and services to its citizens. Unfortunately, taxes also impose cosplayts on citizens both directly and indirectly into markets.
为了社会可以向公民提供公共商品和服务，税收显然是必要的。不幸的是，税收也直接（由于假如一个人把钱给政府，她就不再拥有这笔钱了）或间接（由于税收致使低效率或无谓的损失）地强制公民将资本投入市场。
Because the inefficiency that taxes introduce grows more than proportional to the amount of a tax, it makes sense for the government to structure taxes so that a lot of markets get taxed a little bit rather than so that a few markets get taxed a lot.
由于税收带来的低效率增长超越了税收的比率，所以政府要合理地安排税收结构，在多个市场少量征税，而不是在少数市场很多征税。
Therefore, a number of different taxes exist, and they can be categorized in a number of ways. Lets take a look at some of the common tax breakdowns.
因此，存在很多不一样的税种，它们可以根据多种方法进行分类。让大家来看看一些容易见到的税收细目。
Income Taxes
所得税
An income tax, not surprisingly, is a tax on the money that an individual or household makes.
毫无疑问，所得税是对个人或家庭的收入征税。
This income can either come from labor income such as wages, salaries, and bonuses or from investment income such as interest, dividends, and capital gains. Income taxes are generally stated as a percentage of income, and thispercentagecan vary as the amount of a households income varies.
这种收入既能够来自劳动所得，如薪资、薪水和奖金，也可以来自投资收益，如利息、股利和资本收益。所得税一般以收入的百分比表示，这个百分比可以伴随家庭收入的变化而变化。
Consumption Taxes
消费税
Consumption taxes, on the other hand, are levied when an individual or household buys stuff.
其次，消费税是在个人或家庭在购买货物时征收的。
In the U.S., the most common consumption tax is a sales tax, which is levied as a percentage of the price of most items that are sold to consumers.
在美国，最容易见到的消费税是销售税（营业税），它是按销售给买家的大部分产品价格的百分比征收的。
In China, the sales tax is replacd by the quite similar value-added tax.
在中国，销售税被相当类似的增值税所取代。（销售税和增值税的主要不同在于，增值税是在生产的每一个阶段都要征收的，因此对企业和家庭都征收。）
Consumption taxes can also take the form of excise or luxury taxes, which are taxes on specific items at rates that may differ from the overall sales tax rate. many e conomists feel that consumption taxes are more efficient than income taxes in fostering economic growth.
营业税也可以采取消费税或奢侈品税的形式，这是针对特定项目的税收，税率可能与总体销售税不同。很多经济学家觉得，在促进经济增长方面，消费税比所得税更有效。
Regressive, Proportional, and Progressive Taxes
累退税，比率税和累进税
Taxes can also be categorized as either regressive, proportional, or progressive, and the distinction has to do with the behavior of the tax as the taxable base changes:
税收也可以分为累退型、比率型或累进型，这种不同与税基变化（如家庭收入或企业收益）时的纳税行为有关。
A regressive tax is a tax wher lower-income entities pay a higher fraction of their income in taxes than do higher-income entities.
累退税是指低收入实体比高收入实体支付更高比率的税收。
A proportional tax is a tax wher everyone, regardless of income, pays the same fraction of income in taxes.
比率税（有时称为固定税），是指每一个人，不论收入怎么样，都要缴纳相同比率的所得税。
A progressive tax is a tax wher lower-income entities pay a lower fraction of their income in taxes than do higher-income entities.
累进税是一种低收入企业比高收入企业支付更低比率的税收。
Revenue Taxes versus Sin Taxes
收入税与罪恶税
The main function of most taxes is to raise revenue that the government can use to provide goods and services to the public.
大部分税收的主要功能是增加政府可以用来向公众提供产品和服务的收入。
Taxes that have this goal are referred to as revenue taxes. Other taxes, however, are put in place not specifically to raise revenue but instead to correct for negative externalities, or bad behaviors, wher production and consumption have negative side effects for society.
具备这种目的的税收被叫做“收入税”。不过其他税收并非专门用来增加收入的，而是用来纠正负外部性或“不好的”行为，在这类行为中，生产和消费对社会具备负面影响。
Such taxes are often referred to as sin taxes, but in more precise economic terms are known as Pigovian taxes, named after e conomist Arthur Pigou.
这种税收一般被叫做“罪恶税”，但在更精确的经济术语中被叫做“庇古税”，以经济学家阿瑟•庇古的名字命名。
Because of their differing objectives, revenue taxes and sin taxes differ in their desired behavioral responses from producers and consumers.
因为目的不同，收入税和罪恶税在生产者和买家期望的行为反应方面不同。
Revenue taxes, on one hand, are viewed as best or most efficient when people dont change their work or consumption behavior very much and instead let the tax just act as a transfer to the government.
一方面，当大家不太改变他们的工作或消费行为，而是只让税收作为向政府的转移时，收入税被觉得是最好或效果最好的。
A sin tax, on the other hand, is viewed as best when it has a large effect on the behavior of producers and consumers, even if it doesnt raise very much money for the government.
其次，假如罪恶税对生产者和买家的行为有非常大影响，即便它没为政府筹集到多少资金，它也被觉得是最好的税。
