China's environmental protection tax became effective from the beginning of 2018. According to data released by the State Administration of Taxation, during the 1st half year of 2018, a total of 9.7 billion RMB was collected.
The total collected represents a 22% YOY increase compared to the amount collected from the pollutants emission fee (which the new environmental tax replaces) in the 1st half year of 2017. However, the emission amount of some major pollutants decreased, including COD, ammonia-nitrogen waste water, SO2, and NOx. According to estimates offered by the State Administration of Taxation, industry has availed of a total of 1.7 billion RMB in tax exemptions due to remediation of pollution sources and compliance with emission standards. A major factor for the increase in taxation seen on a national level results from the activities of local governments like Beijing and Tianjin governments (for the detailed tax levels of different provinces please see ChemLinked report here).
A spokesman from the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs said that the environmental protection tax is having the desired impact and has prompted industry to adopt advanced pollution treatment techniques and reduce total emissions. The priority going foward is verification of the reported emission data. It would be the environmental protection authority’s responsibilities to supervise and monitor the emission data.
