The Impact Of Water Resources Tax On Water Use Efficiency

Water is the source of life,the foundation of ecology,and the essential for production.The total amount of water resources in my country is not low,but the per capita share of water resources is not optimistic.In addition,the consciousness of saving water has not been deeply cultivated in the whole society,the efficiency of water resources utilization is low,and the problem of water shortage is serious.Among them,the water shortage problem in Hebei Province is particularly prominent in our country.On July 1,2016,my country took the first step in the reform of water resources fee to tax in Hebei Province,aiming to realize the improvement of water resources utilization efficiency,promote the conservation,protection and rational development of water resources,and finally accelerate the construction of ecological civilization,and achieve the goal of green development.Based on the collation and analysis of domestic and foreign water resources tax research literature,and summarizing the theoretical research on water resources tax,this paper uses empirical methods to evaluate the effects of water resources tax policy since the pilot.This article focuses on the impact of water resources tax on the improvement of water efficiency.This article first combs and analyzes the domestic and foreign water resources tax research literature,and integrates the theoretical basis of water resource tax,public product theory,resource scarcity theory and externality theory,and clarifies the influence mechanism of water resource tax on water resource utilization efficiency.Then,this article takes the water resource tax reform pilot implemented in Hebei Province on July 1,2016 as the entry point.According to the "Interim Measures for the Water Resources Tax Reform Pilot",this article uses the panel data from the National Bureau of Statistics and the "Water Resources Tax Reform from 2010 to 2019,selected the synthetic control method to evaluate the impact of the Hebei Province water resource tax pilot on the efficiency of water resource utilization in the region.It turns out that the water tax reform in Hebei Province has significantly improved its water use efficiency.Combining the empirical results and the actual operation status of water resources tax since the pilot,water resources tax has basically achieved the effects of optimizing water intake structure,improving water resource utilization efficiency,increasing fiscal revenue,and improving the level of collection and management in the Hebei pilot,but it also shows that in the existing water resource tax systems,the design of tax incentives is not comprehensive enough,inter-departmental cooperation is not enough,the improvement of agricultural water efficiency is not obvious enough,and the purpose of water resource tax is not clear.On this basis,from the perspectives of improving the elements of the water resource tax system and supporting the water resource tax system,this article proposes to optimize the design of tax rate and water quota,enrich the content of tax incentives,standardize the special use of water resources tax and establish a long-term joint departmental supervision mechanism,as well as the regular evaluation and analysis of policy effects and other policy recommendations,in order to comprehensively upgrade the efficiency of water resources utilization,perfect the existing water tax system in the pilot area,and promote its further promotion across the country.