(Yicai Global) Sept. 14 -- The countdown for the introduction of the environmental tax in China has started in earnest as the new year is approaching. As the Environment Tax Law will enter into force on Jan. 1, 2018, China's tax authority, State Administration of Taxation (SAT), has started preparations for smooth levying of the new tax.

To this end, the SAT is cooperating closely with the environmental protection department. The preparatory work includes transfer of information on blowdown enterprises, the tax sourcing and development of an information-sharing platform collection system. The SAT will also submit environmental tax enforcement regulations to the State Council, China's cabinet, for consideration, the Economic Information Daily reported, citing industry sources.

As China's first one-line tax law to promote the development of ecological advance, the Environment Tax Law targets enterprises and public institutions that discharge pollutants directly into the environment. The new law will also sweep the sewage charges system implemented for over 40 years in China into dustbin of history.

Under the new Environment Tax Law, the enterprises and public institutions that directly discharge pollutants, listed in the law such as air and water pollutants, solid waste and various noise decibel levels, to the environment will be subject to heavy tax.

"Since the Environmental Tax Law is based on the emission of taxable pollutants, the emissions need to be determined by the environmental protection departments, and the relevant tax departments need to analyze the accuracy of the taxpayer's reporting data against the professional monitoring data of the environmental protection department," said some experts. The interdepartmental coordination is very crucial in implementing the environmental tax, they stressed.