The law goes into effect on Jan 1, 2018. China has not previously imposed any specific environmental taxes, and the new levy will replace an earlier system of miscellaneous charges that are regarded as far too low to deter polluters. Officials have repeatedly stressed that the new policy is not designed to increase the tax burden on enterprises.China holds officials to account for sloppy environmental efforts:https://t.co/rtGrqBzeZI #China #environment #pollution #law
— Meryl Burgess (@merylbeeZA) November 16, 2016
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"The core purpose (of the policy) isn't to increase taxes, but is to improve the system, and encourage enterprises to reduce emissions - the more they emit the more they will pay, and the less they emit the less they will pay," environment minister Chen Jining said earlier this year. The details of the new law have been fiercely contested by the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the Ministry of Finance, the State Taxation Administration and local governments, and have been subject to repeated delays. Conflicts of interest have emerged as other departments worry about lost revenues once the previous system of emission discharge fees is abolished. Some government researchers have also argued that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases should be included in the plans. Jia Kang of the Ministry of Finance's Institute of Fiscal Science complained this year that the environmental tax proposals were far too conservative, with the tax rate per tonne of sulphur dioxide still much cheaper than paying for the equipment required stopping it entering the atmosphere. He suggested that, in order to avoid increasing the tax burden on firms, other business taxes should be cut and replaced by the environmental tax, which would give authorities a more powerful tool to force a firm to improve its environmental performance. ($1 = 6.9432 Chinese yuan renminbi)
