中国是一个“集权型单一制”国家,不是一个“分权型单一制”国家,也不是一个“联邦型复合制”或“邦联型复合制”国家。这个简单的政治事实,决定了中国的财税体制不可能是“分权式”或“联邦式”的。可以说,“中央集权”、“分级代理”、“分税限权”、“转移支付”、“税费最大化”、“预算软约束”和“中央终极责任”是当代中国“财政集权体制”的七大基本特征。由于这些特征不完全符合“财政联邦制”的一系列原则,故中 China is a “centralized state” country, not a “decentralized unitary” country, nor is it a “federal compound” or “confederate compound.” This simple political fact determines that China’s fiscal system can not be “decentralized” or “federal.” We can say that “centralization”, “classification agent”, “tax sharing limit”, “transfer payment”, “tax maximization”, “budget soft constraint” and “Central Ultimate Responsibility ” is the seven basic characteristics of contemporary China “fiscal centralized system ”. As these features do not fully comply with a series of principles of “fiscal federalism,”