Deepening Fiscal and Tax System Reform to Lay a Solid Foundation for Advancing Chinese-Path Modernization

The "Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Further Deepening Reform Comprehensively to Advance Chinese-Path Modernization" (hereinafter referred to as the "Decision"), adopted at the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, proposes important measures such as improving the budget system, perfecting the tax system and optimizing the tax structure, and establishing central-local fiscal relations with clear powers and responsibilities, coordinated financial resources, and regional balance, providing a fundamental guideline for deepening fiscal and tax system reform.

党的二十届三中全会通过的《中共中央关于进一步全面深化改革、推进中国式现代化的决定》（以下简称《决定》），提出健全预算制度，健全税收制度、优化税制结构，建立权责清晰、财力协调、区域均衡的中央和地方财政关系等重要举措，为深化财税体制改革提供了根本遵循。

Deepening fiscal and tax system reform is of great significance for advancing Chinese-path modernization

深化财税体制改革对推进中国式现代化具有重要意义

To deeply understand the significance of deepening fiscal and tax system reform, besides focusing on the reform measures of the fiscal and tax system itself, such as the budget system, tax system, and intergovernmental fiscal relations, these specific reform measures must also be comprehensively grasped together with reform measures in other parts, placed within the strategic context of advancing Chinese-path modernization. Based on the important significance of fiscal and tax system reform for advancing Chinese-path modernization, the "Decision" adheres to systematic thinking and makes a series of reform deployments to advance fiscal and tax system reform. It not only deploys fiscal and tax system reform as an important part of "improving the macro governance system," but also simultaneously makes arrangements in other key reform areas, fully reflecting the strategic position of public finance as the foundation and important pillar of national governance, indicating that fiscal and tax system reform is a comprehensive and holistic reform crucial to advancing Chinese-path modernization.

深刻理解深化财税体制改革的重要意义，除了关注预算制度、税收制度和政府间财政关系等财税体制本身的改革举措，还要将这些具体改革举措与其他部分的改革措施一起，置于推进中国式现代化的战略背景下全面把握。基于财税体制改革对推进中国式现代化的重要意义，《决定》坚持系统思维对推进财税体制改革做出一系列改革部署。不仅将财税体制改革作为“健全宏观治理体系”的重要内容进行部署，还在其他各项重点改革领域中同时做出安排，充分体现了财政作为国家治理基础和重要支柱的战略地位，表明财税体制改革是事关推进中国式现代化的一项全局性和综合性改革。

The need to further play the role of the foundation and important pillar of national governance. The "Decision" proposes that further deepening reform comprehensively should "take economic system reform as the牵引 [n1]," meaning that grasping economic system reform well means grasping the "ox nose" [n2] of further deepening reform comprehensively. As an important component of the macro economic governance system, fiscal and tax system reform is the top priority of economic system reform. By continuing to deepen fiscal and tax system reform, effectively establishing a modern fiscal system that meets the requirements of the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity, and consolidating the foundation of national governance, it is crucial for achieving the overall goal of further deepening reform comprehensively.

进一步发挥国家治理的基础和重要支柱作用的需要。《决定》提出进一步全面深化改革要“以经济体制改革为牵引”，也就是说，抓好经济体制改革就抓住了进一步全面深化改革的“牛鼻子”。财税体制改革作为宏观经济治理体系的重要组成部分，是经济体制改革的重中之重。通过继续深化财税体制改革，卓有成效地建立起适应国家治理体系和治理能力现代化要求的现代财政制度，夯实国家治理的基础，对于进一步全面深化改革总目标的实现至关重要。

The need to further build a high-level socialist market economy system. Adhering to the direction of socialist market economy system reform is our successful experience in achieving economic achievements in the past, and a high-level socialist market economy system is an important guarantee for Chinese-path modernization. The core issue of the socialist market economy system is properly handling the relationship between the government and the market. A high-level socialist market economy system requires a better combination of an enabling government and an efficient market. Only by continuing to advance fiscal and tax system reform can we continuously form scientific macro-control and effective government governance, which is an inherent requirement for leveraging the advantages of the socialist market economy and building a high-level socialist market economy system.

进一步构建高水平社会主义市场经济体制的需要。坚持社会主义市场经济体制改革方向是我们过去取得经济成就的成功经验，高水平社会主义市场经济体制是中国式现代化的重要保障。社会主义市场经济体制的核心问题是处理好政府和市场的关系。高水平社会主义市场经济体制，要求有为政府和有效市场更好结合。继续推进财税体制改革，才能不断形成科学的宏观调控、有效的政府治理，这是发挥社会主义市场经济优势、构建高水平社会主义市场经济体制的内在要求。

The need to further improve the systems and mechanisms for promoting high-quality economic development. Achieving high-quality development is one of the essential requirements of Chinese-path modernization. Without high-quality development, there can be no socialist modernization. China's economy has shifted from a stage of high-speed growth to a stage of high-quality development. Compared with traditional factor-driven development methods, high-quality development places more emphasis on innovation-driven development, common prosperity for all people, well-rounded human development, and harmony between humanity and nature, all of which impose new and higher requirements on fiscal and tax system arrangements.

进一步健全推动经济高质量发展体制机制的需要。实现高质量发展是中国式现代化的本质要求之一，没有高质量发展，就谈不上社会主义现代化。我国经济已由高速增长阶段转向高质量发展阶段，与传统要素驱动的发展方式相比，高质量发展更加注重创新驱动，更加注重全体人民共同富裕、人的全面发展、人与自然和谐，这些都对财税体制安排提出了新的更高要求。

Fiscal and tax system reform has achieved important accomplishments in the process of advancing Chinese-path modernization

财税体制改革在推进中国式现代化进程中取得重要成就

The fiscal and tax system is an important part of the economic system. Whatever the modernization development strategy, there is a corresponding economic system, which in turn requires a corresponding fiscal and tax system. Looking back at the history since the founding of New China, public finance has always played a crucial role in the process of advancing Chinese-path modernization, and fiscal and tax system reform has made significant progress in advancing the national modernization process.

财税体制是经济体制的重要组成部分，有什么样的现代化发展战略，就有什么样的经济体制，从而就要求有什么样的财税体制与之对应。回顾新中国成立以来的历史，财政在推进中国式现代化进程中始终扮演着至关重要角色，财税体制改革推进国家现代化进程取得重大进展。

In the early days of the founding of New China, to adapt to the reality of extreme resource scarcity, the state established a planned economic system to coordinate social resources and quickly establish the foundation for national industrialization. Serving the national development strategy of this period, China formed a planned fiscal system of unified revenue and expenditure [n3]. The state mainly raised fiscal revenue by taking over the profits of state-owned enterprises, and fiscal expenditure was mainly used for urban economic construction. Relying on the planned fiscal system of unified revenue and expenditure, the Party led the people to concentrate resources on major tasks, initially establishing an independent industrial system.

新中国成立之初，为适应当时资源极度匮乏的现实条件，国家建立了计划经济体制以统筹社会资源和尽快建立国家工业化的基础。服务于这一时期的国家发展战略，我国形成了统收统支的计划型财政体制，国家主要通过上收国有企业利润来筹集财政收入，财政支出主要用于城市经济建设。依托统收统支的计划型财政体制，党领导人民集中力量办大事，初步建成了独立的工业体系。

After reform and opening up, the 14th National Congress of the Communist Party of China clearly proposed establishing a socialist market economy system. With the transformation of the national development strategy and economic system, promoting the publicization of public finance and building a public fiscal system framework became the main tasks of fiscal system reform during this period. Among them, the main contributions of the 1994 tax-sharing system reform [n4] are: first, establishing and continuously improving a standardized government revenue system based mainly on taxes; second, shifting fiscal expenditure from mainly being used for economic construction to giving equal weight to economic construction and providing public services; third, dividing taxes based on the division of powers and responsibilities between central and local governments, and introducing a fiscal transfer payment system to standardize the fiscal distribution relationship between central and local governments; fourth, government public services covering residents with different household registrations and operators of different ownership types, truly realizing the transformation to a public fiscal system. The establishment of the public fiscal system played an important foundational and supporting role in establishing and perfecting the basic framework of the socialist market economy system and promoting high-speed economic growth. National fiscal revenue grew steadily, enhancing the supply level and capacity of public goods and services, creating better conditions for the development of the socialist market economy and the improvement of people's living standards.

改革开放后，党的十四大明确提出建立社会主义市场经济体制。随着国家发展战略和经济体制转型，推进财政公共化、构建公共财政体制框架成为这一时期财政体制改革的主要任务。其中，1994年分税制财政体制改革的主要贡献有：一是建立并不断完善以规范的税收为主的政府收入体系；二是财政支出由主要用于经济建设转向经济建设和提供公共服务并重；三是在划分中央、地方事权基础上划分税收，并引入财政转移支付制度，规范中央、地方财政分配关系；四是政府公共服务覆盖不同户籍居民和不同所有制经营者，真正实现了向公共财政体制的转化。公共财政体制的建立，对建立和完善社会主义市场经济体制基本框架和推进经济高速增长，起到了重要的基础和支撑作用。国家财政收入稳步增长，增强了公共产品和服务的供给水平和能力，为社会主义市场经济发展和人民生活水平的提高创造了更好条件。

The "Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Several Major Issues Concerning Comprehensively Deepening Reform," adopted at the Third Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, specifically made deployments on how to deepen fiscal and tax system reform in the New Era, emphasizing that "it is necessary to perfect legislation, clarify powers and responsibilities, reform the tax system, stabilize the tax burden, make budgets transparent, improve efficiency, establish a modern fiscal system, and leverage the initiative of both the central and local governments." Over the past decade or more, various reform tasks of the fiscal and tax system have achieved remarkable results, and the framework of the modern fiscal system has been basically established. The tax system has become more scientific, with continuous tax cuts and fee reductions providing strong support for economic and social development; the structure of fiscal expenditure has become more reasonable. With fiscal support, China has historically eliminated absolute poverty.

党的十八届三中全会通过的《中共中央关于全面深化改革若干重大问题的决定》，专门对新时代如何深化财税体制改革做出部署，强调“必须完善立法、明确事权、改革税制、稳定税负、透明预算、提高效率，建立现代财政制度，发挥中央和地方两个积极性”。十余年来，财税体制各项改革任务取得显著成效，现代财政制度框架基本确立。税收制度更加科学，持续减税降费为经济社会发展提供强大支持；财政支出结构更加合理。在财政支持下，我国历史性地消除绝对贫困。

Key areas to focus on in deepening fiscal and tax system reform

深化财税体制改革应把握的重点领域

On the new journey of the New Era, for public finance to further play its role as the foundation and important pillar of national governance and lay a solid foundation for advancing Chinese-path modernization, it is necessary to deepen fiscal and tax system reform and continuously improve the modern fiscal system.

新时代新征程，财政要进一步发挥国家治理的基础和重要支柱作用，为推进中国式现代化奠定坚实基础，就必须深化财税体制改革，不断完善现代财政制度。

Establish and improve a modern fiscal system compatible with Chinese-path modernization. Only by possessing a law-based, strong, and secure modern fiscal system can the full role of public finance in the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity be brought into play, accelerating the progress of Chinese-path modernization. To this end, the *Decision*[n] makes further arrangements in three aspects: First, improve the budget system, strengthen the coordination of fiscal resources and budgets, and incorporate all revenues obtained through administrative power, government credit, and state-owned resources and assets into government budget management. Improve the state-owned capital management budget and performance evaluation system, and strengthen financial guarantees for major national strategic tasks and basic public wellbeing. Strengthen macro-level guidance on budget preparation and fiscal policy. Enhance performance management of public services and strengthen ex-ante functional evaluation. Deepen zero-based budget reform. Unify budget allocation authority, improve the uniformity and standardization of budget management, and improve the budget disclosure and oversight system. Improve the accrual-based consolidated government financial reporting system. Second, improve the government revenue system with standardized taxation as the mainstay, “improve the tax system conducive to high-quality development, social equity, and market unity, and optimize the tax structure.” Fully leverage the role of the tax system in optimizing resource allocation, overcoming market segmentation, encouraging innovation and green development, and promoting social equity. Third, further rationalize the fiscal relationship between the central and local governments, effectively alleviate local fiscal pressures, and actively prevent fiscal risks. Increase local autonomous fiscal capacity, expand local tax sources, and appropriately expand local tax management authority. Improve the fiscal transfer payment system, clean up and standardize special transfer payments, increase general transfer payments, and enhance the alignment between the fiscal capacity of cities and counties and their expenditure responsibilities. Establish a transfer payment incentive and constraint mechanism to promote high-quality development. Advance the shift of the consumption tax collection point to the post-production stage and steadily delegate it to local governments, improve the VAT refund policy for excess input credits and the deduction chain, and optimize the sharing ratios of shared taxes. Study the merger of the urban maintenance and construction tax, the education surcharge, and the local education surcharge into a local surtax, and authorize local governments to determine specific applicable tax rates within a certain range. Rationally expand the scope of support for local government special bonds, and appropriately expand the fields, scale, and proportion used as capital. Improve the government debt management system, establish a full-caliber local debt monitoring and supervision system and a long-term mechanism for preventing and resolving implicit debt risks, and accelerate the reform and transformation of local financing platforms. Standardize the management of non-tax revenue, and appropriately delegate some non-tax revenue management authority to local governments for differentiated management based on local conditions.

建立健全与中国式现代化相适应的现代财政制度。只有拥有一个法治化、强大且安全的现代财政制度，才能充分发挥财政在国家治理体系和治理能力现代化中的作用，推进中国式现代化加速进行。为此，《决定》在三个方面做出进一步部署：第一，健全预算制度，加强财政资源和预算统筹，把依托行政权力、政府信用、国有资源资产获取的收入全部纳入政府预算管理。完善国有资本经营预算和绩效评价制度，强化国家重大战略任务和基本民生财力保障。强化对预算编制和财政政策的宏观指导。加强公共服务绩效管理，强化事前功能评估。深化零基预算改革。统一预算分配权，提高预算管理统一性、规范性，完善预算公开和监督制度。完善权责发生制政府综合财务报告制度。第二，完善以规范的税收为主体的政府收入体系，“健全有利于高质量发展、社会公平、市场统一的税收制度，优化税制结构”。充分发挥税收制度在优化资源配置、克服市场分割、鼓励创新和绿色发展、促进社会公平等方面的作用。第三，进一步理顺中央和地方财政关系，切实缓解地方财政压力，积极防范财政风险。增加地方自主财力，拓展地方税源，适当扩大地方税收管理权限。完善财政转移支付体系，清理规范专项转移支付，增加一般性转移支付，提升市县财力同事权相匹配程度。建立促进高质量发展转移支付激励约束机制。推进消费税征收环节后移并稳步下划地方，完善增值税留抵退税政策和抵扣链条，优化共享税分享比例。研究把城市维护建设税、教育费附加、地方教育附加合并为地方附加税，授权地方在一定幅度内确定具体适用税率。合理扩大地方政府专项债券支持范围，适当扩大用作资本金的领域、规模、比例。完善政府债务管理制度，建立全口径地方债务监测监管体系和防范化解隐性债务风险长效机制，加快地方融资平台改革转型。规范非税收入管理，适当下沉部分非税收入管理权限，由地方结合实际差别化管理。

Focus on building a high-level socialist market economy system and deepen fiscal and tax system reform. The core of the reform is to properly handle the relationship between the government and the market. Fiscal and tax system reform should serve the construction of a unified, open, competitive, and orderly market system, give full play to the decisive role of the market in resource allocation, and create a fairer and more dynamic market environment. Better leverage the role of the government, promote the construction of a unified national market, clean up and abolish various regulations and practices that hinder a unified national market and fair competition, and establish and improve a unified, standardized, and information-sharing public resource trading platform system for bidding, government procurement, and procurement by public institutions and state-owned enterprises, achieving open management of the entire project process. Improve the basic systems of the market economy, break down barriers to factor mobility in the supply of public services, and improve the mechanism for the free flow of various production factors, with the market evaluating contributions and determining remuneration according to contributions.

聚焦构建高水平社会主义市场经济体制，深化财税体制改革。改革的核心是处理好政府与市场的关系。财税体制改革应服务于建设统一开放、竞争有序的市场体系，充分发挥市场在资源配置中的决定性作用，创造更加公平、更有活力的市场环境。更好发挥政府作用，推动构建全国统一大市场，清理和废除妨碍全国统一市场和公平竞争的各种规定和做法，建立健全统一规范、信息共享的招标投标和政府、事业单位、国有企业采购等公共资源交易平台体系，实现项目全流程公开管理。完善市场经济基础制度，打破公共服务供给方面的要素流动壁垒，健全各类生产要素自由流动并由市场评价贡献、按贡献决定报酬的机制。

Centering on promoting high-quality development, deepen fiscal system reform. To promote high-quality development, fiscal and tax institutional arrangements should fully embody the new development philosophy of innovation, coordination, greenness, openness, and sharing. First, provide fiscal guarantees for building a system and mechanism supporting comprehensive innovation, and deepen fiscal support for scientific and technological innovation and various types of high-level talent; improve the fiscal and tax system conducive to developing new quality productive forces and promoting innovative development of the platform economy and digital economy. Second, strengthen the supporting role of public finance in improving the system and mechanism for integrated urban-rural development. Implement a system for providing basic public services based on household registration at the place of habitual residence, promote the equal entitlement of eligible agricultural transfer populations to social insurance, housing security, and compulsory education for accompanying children to the same rights as the registered population in the place of relocation, and accelerate the urbanization of the agricultural transfer population. Third, strengthen fiscal support for improving the mechanism for green ecological development. Implement fiscal and tax policies and a standard system supporting green and low-carbon development. Improve the green tax system and improve the horizontal ecological protection compensation mechanism. Fourth, strengthen fiscal support for advancing high-level opening up. Optimize the business environment, enhance attractiveness to cross-border investment through measures such as deepening tax collection and administration reform, and promote trade liberalization and facilitation. Fifth, leverage the positive role of public finance in promoting the sharing of reform achievements by the people. Fiscal expenditure should strengthen financial guarantees for basic public wellbeing, strengthen inclusive, foundational, and safety-net public wellbeing construction, solve the most direct and practical problems of greatest concern to the people, and continuously meet the people’s aspirations for a better life.

围绕推进高质量发展，深化财政体制改革。推进高质量发展，财税制度安排应充分体现创新、协调、绿色、开放、共享的新发展理念。第一，为构建支持全面创新的体制机制提供财政保障，深化对科技创新和各类高水平人才的财政支持；健全有利于发展新质生产力、促进平台经济和数字经济创新发展的财税体制。第二，加强财政对完善城乡融合发展体制机制的支持作用。推行由常住地登记户口提供基本公共服务制度，推动符合条件的农业转移人口社会保险、住房保障、随迁子女义务教育等享有同迁入地户籍人口同等权利，加快农业转移人口市民化。第三，加强财政对健全绿色生态发展机制的支持。实施支持绿色低碳发展的财税政策和标准体系。完善绿色税制，健全横向生态保护补偿机制。第四，加强财政对推进高水平对外开放的支持。优化营商环境，通过深化税收征管改革等举措增强对跨国投资吸引力，促进贸易自由化便利化。第五，发挥财政促进改革成果由人民共享的积极作用。财政支出应强化基本民生财力保障，加强普惠性、基础性、兜底性民生建设，解决好人民最关心最直接最现实的问题，不断满足人民对美好生活的向往。

[The author is a Distinguished Researcher at the Research Center for Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and a Researcher at the National Academy of Economic Strategy, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.]

【作者系中国社会科学院习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想研究中心特约研究员、财经战略研究院研究员】

Online Editor: Ma Jingren

网络编辑：马京仁