Environmental Protection or Development? Multiple Policy Effects Evaluation of the Resource Tax Collection Reform for Iron Ore Enterprises in China

The change from quantity-based taxation to price-based taxation of iron ore resources is an important measure for China to implement the goal of carbon peaking and carbon neutralization, and to achieve green economic recovery. To explore the policy’s effectiveness in playing its tax function, and improving the environment and production efficiency, this paper takes the reform of the method of resource tax collection as the “quasi natural experiment” object, and selects the balanced panel data of 16 provinces in China from 2011 to 2021. The double difference method is used to evaluate the policy effect of the reform of resource tax collection. The research shows that: (1) Changing the resource tax from a “volume-based tax” to an “ad valorem tax” can effectively increase the government’s resource tax revenue, and promote the upgrading of enterprise production technology. (2) The reform of resource tax collection will eliminate some small and medium-sized enterprises that are backward in production technology and bring more pollution to the environment. (3) The reform of resource tax collection mode will increase the number of large and medium-sized iron ore enterprises and promote the standardization of the whole iron ore industry.