The Environmental Protection Tax Law was promulgated in 2017 and amended in 2018 respectively. The latest revision entered into force on October 26, 2018.

There are 28 articles in total.

The key points are as follows:

1.Enterprises, public institutions and other producers/operators that discharge taxable pollutants directly to the environment within the territorial areas of China and other sea areas under the jurisdiction of China are the taxpayers of environmental protection tax and shall pay such tax in accordance with the provisions of this Law.(Article 1)

2.For the items and amounts of environmental protection tax, the Table of Items and Amounts of Environmental Protection Tax annexed hereto shall be followed.(Article 6)

3.The taxation basis of taxable pollutants shall be determined using the following methods:

(i) taxable air pollutants shall be determined based on the pollution equivalent quantity converted from the pollutant emission quantity;

(ii) taxable water pollutants shall be determined based on the pollution equivalent quantity converted from the pollutant discharge quantity;

(iii) taxable solid waste shall be determined based on the discharge quantity thereof; and

(iv) taxable noise shall be determined by the decibels that exceed the national standards.(Article 7)