| The inheritance tax has experienced even up- down for many times in the history of the reform of taxation in China, and also has aroused many strong reactions and discussions. While, till now, whether or not to levy the inheritance tax is still a central issue being discussed by all walks of life in China. First of all, the approvers think that the conditions of levying the inheritance tax have already been mature: firstly, with the rapid development of economy in China, the phenomenon that large-scale accumulations of primate property by a small number of people is very popular which can supply a rich tax revenue source; secondly, there is vast experience both at home and abroad from which we can draw lessons; thirdly, citizens'awareness of the need to pay tax is being enhanced and they are gradually developing a habit of actively paying tax; fourthly, the efficiency of tax collection and administration is being increased gradually and the system of tax collection and administration is also being improved day by day; fifthly, the relevant legal rules and regulations on inheritance, notarization, finance, insurance, securities, real estate, vehicles and vessels, etc. have initially taken shape which supplies a favorable legal environment for levying the inheritance tax. Next, the opponents think that levying the inheritance tax in China will confront with many difficulties: firstly, the development level of productivity and the economy and society culture of China will make the execution of the inheritance tax confront with unprecedented difficulties; secondly, levying the inheritance tax may not increase the state revenue, and what's more, the revenue of the inheritance tax can not compensate for the cost of levying it; thirdly, levying the inheritance tax can not effectively adjust the gap between the poor and the rich and even may disappoint the residents who create wealth actively, which may further decreases the economic effectiveness and influences the development of national economy and causes an abnormal consumption and capital outflow. The approvers and the opponents have respectively analyzed the feasibility of and the practical difficulties confronted with by levying the inheritance tax from different aspects. Based on the reason of the existence and the conditions of the development of the inheritance tax, drawing on the experience of other countries and the special conditions of China should be combined together to analyze in detailed that whether or not it is necessary to levy the inheritance tax in China and whether or not the adverse conditions can be overcome. Meanwhile, many legal issues concerning the inheritance tax have not reached a consensus, so there is still space for a further study.In Part-1, the basic theory of levying the inheritance tax is analyzed. The basic theory of the inheritance tax is introduced from three aspects which are the definition, legal character and theoretic basis of levying of the inheritance tax, which supplies a foundation for the following research on the inheritance tax. First of all, the inheritance tax is a kind of revenue in which the inheritance left behind after the citizen's death is levied a tax on, usually including the revenue of the levying on the inheritance of ancestor and the revenue of levying on the inheritance inherited by inheritors. Therefore, there are two constitutive requirements of the inheritance tax: one is that there must be inheritance or property existing, and the other is that the inheritance tax shall only be levied after the death of the citizen who owns the inheritance or property. Next, the inheritance tax belongs to the property tax category and meanwhile it is a kind of direct tax. Finally, the theoretical basis of levying the inheritance tax mainly includes state power theory, state capacity theory, state backing tax theory, state averaging wealth theory, public welfare theory, etc. Each theory of levying represents scholars'different opinions formed from different aspects, although the emphases of these theories are different, to some extent, these theories response the meaning of the inheritance tax averaging social wealth.In Part-2, the necessity of levying the inheritance tax in China is analyzed here. Since the reform and opening-up, with the persistent, steady and fast development of national economy, the level of people's living has been improving continually and the quantity of private property has been increased obviously. Especially in the group of people who have become rich first, the amount of properties accumulated by an individual person has already been very large. As a method of adjusting social wealth distribution, levying the inheritance tax does not only have the conditions of its execution, but also has the necessity of its existing. Levying the inheritance tax meets the requirements of improving the current property tax system and safeguarding the tax sovereignty of governments in China, strengthening the effect of revenue adjustment and narrowing the gap between the poor and the rich, increasing the state revenue and making up the lack of social security benefit and encouraging the charitable donation and developing the charity in China. Consequently, levying the inheritance tax is inevitably required by the circumstances although there are some problems to be solved on the levying of it in current China.Part-3 is the research on taxability of inheritance. Taxability of inheritance is discussed on the basis of the theory of property taxability and the basic principals of taxation, and it is also discussed from the aspects of its possibility and feasibility on economics as well as rationality and legality on law, and meanwhile, it is inspected through the principles of legal prescription on taxation, of fairness and of efficiency.The last part is also the core part of this thesis which is about the legislative constitution of inheritance tax system in China. The effect of the performance of a system is directly depended on whether the design of the system is scientific and reasonable or not, so the key of success on the inheritance tax system in China lies in its system design. In the thesis, the legislation of inheritance tax in China is analyzed from the aspects of canonical form, tax system mode, tax jurisdiction, taxpaying body, coverage of taxation, taxable threshold and tax rate selection etc. Firstly, considering from the aspects of legal principle of taxation and The Legislation Law etc, the inheritance tax system of China should be standardized by Standing Committee of the National People's Congress in the form of law. Secondly, in accordance of our social environment and legal system, the idea in which to adopt general inheritance tax system is relatively appropriate while individual ones can distinguish close relationship from estranged relationship is worth us to learn in tax system designing. Meanwhile, the complement tax types as donation tax should be scientifically set. Thirdly, as for the tax jurisdiction, examples that combines international principle of nationality and doctrine of territory nonresident taxpayer should only pay inheritance tax on the inheritance left him in China. Fourthly, a taxpayer of inheritance tax can be defined according to the following order: In the process of inheriting, if there is an executor or an administrator, then take him as the withholding agent. Under the condition of which the ancestor has not clearly appointed an executor or the executor has no way to execute a will, then the work unit or any grass-root organization in the living place of the estator may be regarded as the executor. If there is not an executor or an administrator, the inheritor or the legatee should be taken as the taxpayer. If a taxpayer of inheritance tax is a person of no civil disposition capacity or a person limited in disposing capacity, tax liability should be performed by his legal representative. For the inheritance inherited and donated by nobody, such inheritance should be owned by the country, and the inheritance tax should be exempted. Fifthly, the scope of taxation of inheritance tax in China should be defined from the international standard, and the method of summarization is combined with the method of the reverse cases should be adopted, the amount of the properties in total that the object of taxation has left for the ancestor should be firstly defined, then the reverse cases would be used to list the properties not contained in the scope of tax paying. Sixth, the definition of the taxable threshold of the inheritance tax in China should be on the assumption of the current economic situation, and meanwhile according to the current economic developing conditions and living standards of the people in China, considering the differences on developments between the eastern region and the western region and the consequent cognitional differences between people on the standard of rich and poor, and then to select an effective way according to time and place, and reflect the principle of fairness and reduce the hindering force upon inheritance tax collection and management. At the same time, tax rate should not be set too high because this will cause tax avoidance. After entering to the WTO, in the condition that RMB can be freely exchanged, too high inheritance tax rate can lead outflow of capital and thus will severely influence the economic development of China. From the above, to levy inheritance tax is not only necessary but also feasible. The author firmly believes, with the further development of inheritance tax research, collection and management level and the day by day strengthening of the tax paying awareness of residents, the levy of inheritance tax is sure to become the shining point of the reform of taxation in China of the new era and it is also sure to become the assistor of both the economic development and our construction of a harmonious society.
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