Environmental Protection Tax Law.

This Law is enacted for the purposes of protecting and improving the environment, reducing pollutant discharges, and promoting ecological civilization construction. The Text consists of 28 articles divided into 5 Chapters: General Provisions (I); Tax Basis and Tax Amount Payable (II); Tax Reduction and Exemption (III); Tax Collection Administration (IV); Supplementary Provisions (V).
For the purpose of this Law, “taxable pollutants” refers to the air pollutants, water pollutants, solid wastes and noises as prescribed in the Schedule of Tax Items and Tax Amounts of Environmental Protection Tax and the Schedule of Taxable Pollutants and Equivalent Values attached to this Law. The Law sets forth four categories that are the basis for collecting taxes for polluting the environment: (1). air pollution (determined by a pollution equivalent number converted from the pollutant emission amount); (2). water pollution (determined by a pollution equivalent number converted from the pollutant material amount); (3). solid waste (determined by the amount discharged); and (4). building construction and industrial noise (determined in accordance with the construction area contracted for by the construction unit(s) or according to the number of decibels in excess of national standards, respectively). Certain sectors are eligible for exemption from the environmental tax, including agricultural production (except large-scale farming); mobile pollution sources (such as motor vehicles, locomotives, off-road machinery, ships, and aircraft); and urban sewage treatment plants and domestic waste treatment plants whose discharge of waste does not exceed State standards (art.12).