特别广播英语第 8 课：Taxes, Taxes, and More Taxes 万税，万税，万万税-1

Americans often say that there are only two things a person can be sure of in life: death and taxes. 美国人常说凡是一个人一生中有两件事是肯定的：一是必有一死，一是必须纳税。

Americans do not have a corner on the "death" market, but many people feel that the United States leads the world with the worst taxes. 虽然美国人并没有垄断了世界"死亡殡葬业"的市场，但是美国确以最苛重的赋税在世界上独占鳌头。

Taxes consist of the money which people pay to support their government. 税就是人民为了支持政府工作所交纳的钱。

There are generally three levels of government in the United States: federal, state, and city; therefore, there are three types of taxes. 在美国大体上有三级政府：联邦政府、州政府和市政府。因此，征税也有三种。

Salaried people who earn more than a few thousand dollars must pay a certain percentage of their salaries to the federal government. 凡是年薪收在两三千美元以上的人，必须按年薪的一定百分比向联邦政府纳税。

The percentage varies from person to person. 这百分比的多少，人与人是不同的。

It depends on their salaries. 这取决于年薪大小。

The federal government has a graduated income tax, that is, the percentage of the tax (14 to 70 percent) increases as a person's income increases. 联邦政府征收累进所得税，也就是说，随着个人收的增长，征税的百分比率（百分之十到百分之七十）也在增长。

With the high cost of taxes, people are not very happy on April 15, when the federal taxes are due. 由于征税数额高，在联邦政府收税日，即在四月十五日，那人们心情都不愉快。