为激励日益低迷的消费市场，美国政府开始总额1680亿美元的退税，每个家庭可以获得数百到上千美元的退税。

    请看外电的报道：

    The federal government began issuing electronic tax rebates² on Monday under a $168 billion program to bolster³ the economy.

    为了稳定经济，联邦政府于本周一开始发出总额1680亿美元的电子退税单。

    President Bush and Congress hope the plan will generate spending and jump-start the economy by putting money in people’s hands. The plan, which was passed by Congress in February, also includes tax breaks for businesses.

    布什总统和国会都希望这项把钱还到人们手中的退税方案能够带动消费，重振经济。国会在今年二月通过这一方案，其中还包括商业领域的税收优惠政策。

    该报道中，tax rebate¹就是“退税”的意思（A tax rebate is a refund⁴ of tax which has been overpaid under certain circumstances），我们还可以用drawback，tax refund，tax return，tax reimbursement等词或短语来表达“退税”，国际贸易中常见的“出口退税”就是export rebate或者tax reimbursement⁵ for export。

    该报道中跟tax 有关的还有一个表达也值得一提就是tax break（a tax deduction⁶ that is granted in order to encourage a particular type of commercial activity），指“税收优惠”或者“优惠税额”，与tax benefit意思相近。