Abstract Since 2008, Ma Zhong, Dean of the School of Environment of Renmin University of China, has been busy with the drafting of the Environmental Protection Tax Law (Draft) (hereinafter referred to as the “Environmental Tax Lawâ€). It lasted eight years, to the 12th National Congress on August 29 this year...
Since 2008, Ma Zhong, Dean of the School of Environment of Renmin University of China, has been busy with the drafting of the Environmental Protection Tax Law (Draft) (hereinafter referred to as the “Environmental Tax Lawâ€). After eight years, at the 22nd meeting of the 12th National People's Congress Standing Committee on August 29 this year, this draft was first submitted for deliberation, and the environmental protection tax law finally ushered in the dawn. Ma Zhong told the Times Weekly reporter that the staff members of the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the Ministry of Finance, and the taxation department were involved in drafting the draft environmental protection tax. "We are consistent in the general legislative direction."
When the Minister of Finance Lou Jiwei made a draft statement, he said that the legislative principle of the draft is “transfer of tax burdenâ€. From the “transfer†of sewage charges to the environmental protection tax, the object of collection is consistent with the current sewage charges, and the object of collection is atmospheric pollutants. , water pollutants, solid waste, noise.
When Ma Zhong was interviewed by the Times Weekly reporter, there was a sense of regret in the words: "It is a very important thing to change the sewage charges into environmental taxes. If it is just a translation, it is a pity."
Chen Jianpeng, deputy director of the Environmental Policy Research Office of the Development Research Center of the State Council, said in an interview with the Times Weekly reporter: "The rate of sewage charges has been relatively low. After the fees are changed, the tax authorities will collect taxes and may make some changes. He stressed that the introduction of the environmental protection tax law is a noteworthy focus of China's environmental governance in addition to the establishment of the “three divisions†by the central environmental protection inspection team and the Ministry of Environmental Protection this year.
A person in charge of a chemical fertilizer plant in Ankang, Shaanxi Province, told the Times Weekly reporter: "The people in our industry are staring at the introduction of this law." He believes that the current sewage charges translation design is only temporary, and the future will be highly polluting industries such as fertilizers. Will be shuffled due to environmental tax burden. "After the implementation of the draft, it will become an opportunity for the fertilizer industry to go to production capacity. Some small enterprises have no money to control pollution, and will certainly face elimination." He is already in contact with local sewage treatment manufacturers to increase pollution control costs.
The value of the fee-for-tax
The Environmental Tax Law is the first one-line tax law submitted to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress after the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee proposed the implementation of the principle of “tax statutory†and the “Legislation Law†clearly stipulated the “tax statutoryâ€.
Since 1990, for sewage companies, the environmental protection department will impose sewage charges. From 2003 to 2015, the country has collected more than 200 billion yuan of sewage charges, and more than 5 million enterprises and institutions and individual industrial and commercial households that have paid sewage charges. Finance Minister Lou Jiwei said that the sewage charge system has played an important role in preventing and controlling environmental pollution. However, compared with the tax system, the sewage charge system has problems such as insufficient law enforcement rigidity, local government and department intervention, etc. Change taxes.
Ma Zhong analyzed this. Local governments may limit the collection of sewage charges by the environmental protection department in consideration of lowering the cost of local enterprises: “Beijing and Tianjin have already raised the sewage rate because they have this economic strength and are determined. Doing a good job in the environment. It is hard to say in other provinces."
Time Weekly reporters inquired about the collection of sewage charges in various provinces and learned that there are some key polluting enterprises in each province, autonomous region, and municipality that do not have to pay sewage charges because of “policy-free exemptionâ€, and many of them have long-term pollution. Some insiders said that in recent years, the reduction of sewage charges has become an excuse for “policy concessions†and “reduce the burden of enterprises†in some places. For some unqualified EIA agencies, many local governments have also closed their eyes.
Lan Lan, a professor at the School of Environment of Renmin University of China, told Time Weekly that there is a clear difference between sewage charges and environmental taxes: “The collection unit is different, and the tax is collected by the tax department. Therefore, the authority of the tax will be larger. The original sewage payment fee will not be paid. It is an illegal act, and it is now illegal.†Ni Hongri, head of the expert group of the Research Institute of Resources and Environmental Policy of the Development Research Center of the State Council, said: “The fees and taxes are collected and the intensity of the collection is different. The tax legislation can be more stringent and standardized. surroundings".
The larger background of environmental tax legislation is the trend of administrative costs to statutory taxation, that is, the “fee-to-tax†that is being implemented in other areas of the country. Jia Kang, former director of the Institute of Fiscal Science of the Ministry of Finance, pointed out in the proposal of the two national conferences this year that China has not set up a special environmental tax, the current environmental pollution charges are low, the scope is too narrow, and the overall environmental tax policy is not systematic, resulting in environmental protection. The effect is not significant.
Lan Lan told Time Weekly that the taxation work of environmental tax is relatively professional: “The taxation must conform to changes in environmental capacity and should not be static. Therefore, it is definitely necessary to cultivate some relevant professionals.†She suggested that the tax authorities and The Ministry of Environmental Protection must establish a linkage mechanism. This proposal is also reflected in the draft.
The famous economist Song Qinghui said that changing from "sewage charges" to "environmental taxes" is an important step in the international arena. He said that all the world's environmental taxes have a double dividend, the first is to use economic means to contain environmental pollution emissions, and the second is to protect the environment by curbing the funds from pollutant emissions.
Entering the financial system is progress
The draft clearly states that the taxation department is responsible for taxation. The environmental protection department is a facilitating role. It does not directly relate to the taxpayer. Instead, it provides tax-based data and is subject to formal review by the taxation department. The two are responsible for and responsible for the division of labor within the administrative system. relationship.
"The general direction of the two lines of revenue and expenditure is absolutely correct." Ma Zhong pointed out that the sewage charges are collected by the environmental protection department. Because it is an administrative charge, after the sewage charges are collected, it may not only be used for pollution control, but also used for pollution control. The administrative expenses of the environmental protection department are “not standardizedâ€. After the introduction of the environmental protection tax, the tax will enter the financial system, and the administrative expenses of the Ministry of Environmental Protection will be paid by the government.
Lan Lan raised concerns with Time Weekly reporter: "The Ministry of Environmental Protection has a set of methods for collecting sewage charges. These fees have certain uses. Now the tax authorities are collecting them because the taxes are based on the financial system, so if there are no additional clauses, It is difficult to say that this part of the funds can return to the hands of the environmental protection department. Without this part of the income, the environmental protection department will have one less fund."
Zhang Yuzhen, deputy of the National People's Congress and deputy director of the Fujian Academy of Environmental Sciences, participated in the deliberation of the draft. She also expressed some concerns in her opinion: According to China's tax system, if no special regulations are made, the income from environmental protection tax will be the same as other general budget funds. In the case of public budgetary expenditures, the attributes of the source of income are not taken into consideration, and budgetary expenditures are integrated. If the environmental tax revenue does not specify the use of funds, on the one hand, it cannot guarantee the financial support role of the existing sewage fee income, resulting in a decrease in local environmental protection investment; on the other hand, it cannot form a stable and continuous investment channel for environmental protection.
Ma Zhong said that he is positive: "The national environmental protection department is not short of money." He believes that the national finance fund for environmental protection last year was 480 billion yuan, "enough enough. And the results from the Third Plenary Session and the Fifth Plenary Session. Look, the central government’s tilt towards environmental protection will certainly grow larger and larger."
The entry of pollution control fees into the fiscal system does not begin with the environmental tax law. Ma Zhong said that in fact, the sewage charges in the eastern coastal areas have been included in the financial system, but the sewage charges in the western provinces are still collected by the local environmental protection departments. “The central government will transfer payments to the western regions. After the future fees are changed, the western region will be environmentally friendly. There is no need to worry about the funding of the department."
Ma Zhong believes that the sewage charges have been upgraded to environmental taxes, and entering the financial system has precisely reflected the significance of progress and the purpose of environmental taxation. "Sewage charges are administrative charges and are the income of the environmental protection department. Fundamentally, if the enterprises do not discharge pollutants, the income of the environmental protection department will decrease, which will dampen the enthusiasm of the environmental protection department for pollution control. The environmental protection tax is 'polluting only has taxes. ', is to encourage enterprises not to discharge pollution." Ma Zhong said, "environmental tax is not an income tax, not an income tax, but a behavioral tax."
Earlier, the Minister of Environmental Protection Chen Jining said in public that the core purpose of drafting the environmental protection tax was not to increase taxes, but to establish a mechanism to encourage enterprises to emit less pollutants, pay more taxes, and pay less. tax.
The sewage charges are collected by the local environmental protection department and the income is owned by the local environmental protection department. The draft environmental protection tax law continues this rule, and local environmental taxes are owned by the local finance.
Tax shift is the first step
Experts pointed out that the draft of the environmental protection tax adopts the translation design, and the core reason is the principle of “do not increase the tax burdenâ€. "Under the new normal, the economy is going down, and the draft may take into account that it is prudent to add more burdens to enterprises," Lan said.
The draft stipulates that the current sewage rate is the bottom line of the environmental tax rate, and the power to set the floating tax rate is handed over to the locality. However, both Lan Lan and Ma Zhong have questioned: the criteria for taxation are not given in the draft. This gives some local governments the power to keep the tax rate and "keep silent."
It is understood that according to the draft, the air and water sewage charges in seven provinces and cities have been significantly lower than the minimum standards. “The sewage rate has been set very low, which has caused the deterrent of the environmental protection department to be insufficient.†Chen Jianpeng told the Times Weekly reporter. The introduction of the environmental tax law was originally expected to change this situation. However, the current method of shifting the sewage rate does not bring much improvement.
According to the Times Weekly reporter, the sewage charges collected throughout the country are generally lower than the cost of governance. This not only brings financial difficulties to the environmental protection department, but also the company does not feel too much pressure. In the draft, there are also some designs that embody the principle of “no increase in tax burden†and stipulate five tax exemptions.
“Before, there was a view that pollution control should consider the affordability of polluters,†said a scholar who did not want to be named. “At the time, I thought that economic development was more important and I didn’t realize the big troubles caused by environmental pollution. The government is now Aware of the importance of environmental governance, the Third Plenary Session is also mentioned, but it just happened to hit the economic downturn. In terms of steady growth and environmental protection, many places feel very contradictory."
Ma Zhong hopes that the translation is only the first step in the introduction of environmental taxes. “The original intention of the environmental tax is to move toward the goal of 'polluter pays'. Therefore, it is best to have a timetable. After a few years, the entire basic tax rate can rise. At the same time, all localities must increase the tax rate and crack down on local protectionism. The place does not rise and should be taken over by the state."
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