Environmental protection tax is coming, four major points should be understood

From 1January 2018 1, a new member of China's tax family, the environmental protection tax, was officially levied, and China's implementation of the sewage charging system in 40recent years has withdrawn from the stage of history.Recently, Premier Li Keqiang of the State Council signed a State Council decree promulgating the "Regulations on the Implementation of the Environmental Protection Tax Law of the People's Republic of China" (hereinafter referred to as the "Implementation Regulations").

How much will the levy of environmental protection tax have on my country's economic and social development?A number of authoritative experts were interviewed by reporters and explained in detail the four highlights of my country's first green tax.

What is this tax?

——The first new tax aimed at environmental protection

As a new type of tax in my country, the emergence of environmental protection tax has taken an important step in the reform of my country's tax system.

"Environmental protection tax is my country's first independent environmental tax with a clear goal of environmental protection. It is of great significance for building a green fiscal and taxation system, regulating the pollution control behavior of polluters, and establishing a green production and consumption system. "Ministry of Environmental Protection Wang Jinnan, president of the Academy of Environmental Planning and academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said.

According to Shi Zhengwen, a professor at the Fiscal and Taxation Law Research Center of China University of Political Science and Law, the Environmental Protection Tax Law is the first tax law passed after my country put forward the implementation of the statutory principle of taxation.The legislative purpose and function of environmental protection tax are positioned in "protecting and improving the environment, reducing pollutant discharge, and promoting the construction of ecological civilization", and it is a representative tax for the construction of "green tax system" in my country.

Experts said that the implementation regulations announced this time are comprehensive supporting regulations to comprehensively refine and guarantee the implementation of the environmental protection tax law. Disputes in the application, improve the operability and implementation effect of the law.

How is this tax levied?

- Whoever pollutes pays the tax

As an important step to improve the "green tax system", an important principle for levying environmental protection tax is to realize the smooth transfer of the pollution discharge fee system to the environmental protection tax system.

According to the Environmental Protection Tax Law, the taxation object and scope of the environmental protection tax are basically the same as the current pollutant discharge fee. The taxation scope is the air, water, solid and noise pollutants directly discharged to the environment.

The taxpayers of environmental protection tax are enterprises, institutions and other producers and operators that directly discharge taxable pollutants into the environment in the territory of the People's Republic of China and other sea areas under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China.This means that those who do not directly discharge taxable pollutants into the environment do not pay environmental taxes.Resident individuals are not taxpayers and do not need to pay environmental tax.

Shi Zhengwen said that the provisions of the Environmental Protection Tax Law on the elements of the tax system are more principled and general, while the implementation regulations are clarified, detailed and supplemented.For example, it clarifies the mechanism for determining the specific scope of other solid wastes, how to pay taxes for large-scale farming, the meaning of solid waste discharge, and under what circumstances the solid waste generation is directly used as the discharge, and defines the centralized urban and rural sewage treatment sites. meaning, etc.

"The environmental protection tax law covers a wide range of areas, is highly professional, and has a high degree of social concern. The promulgation of the implementing regulations has enhanced the operability of the tax law and provided specific institutional guarantees for the introduction of new taxes. " said Liu Jianwen, a professor at Peking University Law School.

How is the tax rate determined?

——More pollutants and more taxes

Liu Jianwen introduced that when setting the tax standard, the Environmental Protection Tax Law not only reflects the statutory principle of taxation, but also gives local governments a certain degree of autonomy and room for choice.For example, tax caps have been set for air and water pollutants, and provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government can refer to the standards for pollutant discharge fees to determine the specific applicable tax amounts for air pollutants and water pollutants within the specified range.

Wang Jinnan revealed that at present, various provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities have successively formulated and passed environmental protection tax standards and the number of taxable items for taxable air pollutants and water pollutants.Liaoning, Jilin, Anhui, Xinjiang and other places are basically levied according to the minimum tax standard, that is, each pollution equivalent is 1.2RMB and 1.4RMB respectively.However, Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei and Shanghai have higher tax rates. For example, Beijing levies the highest tax standard; Hebei divides the environmental protection tax for major air pollutants and major water pollutants into 3grades by region. Equivalent 9.6yuan, water pollutants per pollution equivalent 11.2yuan.

Some people in the industry predict that once the environmental protection tax is levied, the scale will far exceed the current sewage charge, and the annual collection may reach 100 500million yuan.Among them, the enterprises that emit air pollutants and water pollutants are the most affected.

"After the environmental protection tax is levied, more emissions will inevitably pay more taxes, but at present, due to the transition from sewage charges, the shift of tax burden will not increase the burden on enterprises. " Li Xuhong, director of the Institute of Fiscal and Tax Policy and Application of Beijing National Accounting Institute, believes that, The environmental protection tax is not levied in the final consumption link and will not directly increase the burden on consumers.

It is worth noting that the Environmental Protection Tax Law has formulated regulations on tax reduction and exemption.For example, if the taxpayer discharges taxable air pollutants or water pollutants with a concentration value lower than the pollutant discharge standards stipulated by the state and local governments , the 30% of at a reduced rate of 75% .environmental protection tax shall be levied In accordance with the principle of strict control, the implementing regulations further clearly define the conditions for applying tax reduction.

Who will pay this tax?

——Collaboration of taxation and environmental protection departments

The biggest challenge in the implementation of a new tax is the collection and management process.

The Environmental Protection Tax Law is the first one-line tax law in my country that is clearly written into the departmental information sharing and work cooperation mechanism.After the environmental protection fee was changed to tax, the collection department was changed from the environmental protection department to the taxation authority, and the environmental protection department cooperated to determine the tax collection and management model of "enterprise declaration, tax collection, environmental protection monitoring, and information sharing".

"Environmental protection tax is a newly levied independent green tax. It is levied on the discharge of taxable pollutants. The taxation basis is different from other taxes. It is highly specialized and complicated to collect and manage. Authorities and environmental protection authorities should establish a work cooperation mechanism. " The relevant person in charge of the Property and Behavior Tax Department of the State Administration of Taxation previously stated.

"It is the first time in the collection of various taxes in my country that such a high requirement for department cooperation is required. It is necessary to make clear and specific provisions on the collection and management mechanism from the level of laws and regulations to prevent unclear responsibilities and collection and management loopholes." Shi Zhengwen said, The Implementing Regulations further refine the collection and management work mechanism of division of labor and cooperation, clarify the scope of responsibilities of tax authorities and environmental protection departments, and the work cooperation mechanism between the two departments.

Experts pointed out that the effective implementation of the Environmental Protection Tax Law requires a series of sound supporting regulations. The implementation regulations are only a comprehensive supporting regulations, and other more specialized and detailed supporting regulations are still needed.