Research On The Construction Of Carbon Tax Legal System In China

The development of human society is inseparable from energy materials.With the continuous development of economy and society,the demand for energy such as fossils is increasing year by year.According to the statistical bulletin,China’s total energy consumption increased by 3.3% in 2019 compared with the same period last year.Natural gas and oil had the largest increases,at 8.6 per cent and 6.8 per cent,respectively.In the future,with the rapid growth of China’s social economy,it will not only lead to the growth of China’s energy demand,but also bring about a sharp rise in greenhouse gas emissions.Looking abroad,in order to deal with the problem of greenhouse gas emissions,many countries have established a carbon tax system and achieved remarkable results.In China,the issue of whether to establish a carbon tax system still stays at the level of theoretical research,and the construction and implementation of the carbon tax system has not been put on the agenda.The judicial practice of foreign carbon tax system shows that the tax regulation function of carbon tax can effectively promote the transformation and upgrading of energy production and processing enterprises,develop clean energy to replace traditional fossil energy,effectively alleviate the contradiction between economic development and environmental protection,and effectively deal with international political pressure and "green barriers".Therefore,it is particularly urgent to use carbon tax to solve the problem of carbon dioxide emissions in China.Externality theory,double dividend theory,polluter pays theory and public goods theory all provide theoretical support for the establishment of carbon tax system.Through the research methods of literature analysis,comparative analysis and empirical analysis,and on the basis of drawing lessons from the legal system of carbon tax in Finland,Japan,Canada and other foreign countries,this paper empirically analyzes the restrictive factors of establishing the carbon tax system in our country,and emphatically demonstrates the feasibility of levying carbon tax in our country.Starting from the national conditions of our country and following the basic rules of the tax system,this paper makes a comprehensive design of the tax object,taxpayer,tax basis,tax link,tax preference and other elements of carbon tax.First,the object of taxation is defined as fossil energy that can produce greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide;Second,the scope of taxpayers should be tentatively defined as enterprises,enterprise units and individual industrial and commercialhouseholds that have the behavior of taxable carbon dioxide emissions,at present,individuals are not suitable to be taxpayers of carbon tax;Third,the estimated emissions of fossil energy should be used as the tax basis for carbon tax.Fourth,at the initial stage of levying carbon tax,a fixed tax rate should be adopted,taking into account the existence of different factors,different tax rates should be applied to different fossil energy sources;Fifth,carbon tax should be levied in the production process;Sixth,tax concessions and reductions should be given to energy-intensive enterprises that take the initiative to achieve energy conservation and emission reduction and the transformation of energy structure;Seventh,carbon tax revenue should be incorporated into the central finance and unified management and use.It is expected to make a useful research and discussion on the establishment of carbon tax system in China.