环境污染问题不仅关乎美丽中国建设的推进和“双碳”目标的实现，更重要的是，环境状况与人民群众的身体健康、经济的可持续发展、社会的和谐稳定息息相关。优质的生态环境不仅有益于当代，更是一项利在千秋的伟大事业。自2018年1月1日《中华人民共和国环境保护税法》实施以来，至今已逾6年，其能否有效发挥污染治理效应，一直是学术界研究的热点话题。

在此背景下，本文聚焦环境保护税与污染治理之间的关系，主要探究三个核心问题：（1）环境保护税如何影响污染排放？（2）环境保护税对污染排放的影响是否具有异质性？（3）环境保护税通过何种路径影响污染排放？本文使用2013—2021年中国283个地级市的面板数据，运用熵权法计算环境污染指数，运用双重差分模型进行回归检验；从地理位置、经济发展、资源禀赋等角度检验了影响的异质性；以绿色技术创新、产业结构优化为中介变量，分析了环境保护税污染治理效应的影响机制。

研究发现：（1）环境保护税政策显著降低了税负提高地区的环境污染排放，其中，环境保护税能显著减少工业“三废”（废水、废气、固体废物）的排放，但对二氧化碳的抑制作用尚不明显；（2）异质性检验结果显示，在东中部地区、经济发达城市以及非资源型城市，环境保护税取得了更理想的污染治理效果；（3）影响机制检验方面，环境保护税促进了绿色技术创新和产业结构优化，进而减少了污染排放。

根据实证分析结论，本文提出调整环保税税制并完善征管机制，以进一步完善环境保护税政策；以环保税为基础，构建绿色税收体系，推动税收制度的绿色转型；优化能源结构，鼓励绿色创新，促进产业结构优化，从而充分发挥环境保护税的污染治理效应。

The problem of environmental pollution is not only intricately related to the Beautiful China initiative and the attainment of the " Carbon Peaking and Carbon Neutrality Goals", but, more importantly, it is deeply intertwined with the health of the populace, sustainable economic development, and social harmony and stability. A high-quality ecological environment is not only beneficial to the contemporary era, but also a great cause that benefits all generations and posterity. Since January 1st, 2018, the Environmental Protection Tax Law has been in effect for over six years, and its ability to exert a pollution control effect has consistently been a focal point of academic inquiry.

Against this backdrop, this paper focuses on the relationship between environmental protection tax and pollution control, and primarily explore three core issues：: (1) How does the environmental protection tax affect pollution emissions? (2) Is there heterogeneity in the impact of environmental protection tax on pollution emissions? (3) Through what path does the environmental protection tax affect pollution emissions? This paper utilizes panel data from 283 prefecture-level cities in China from 2013 to 2021, calculates the environmental pollution index using the entropy method, and performs regression tests using the double difference model. It examines the heterogeneity of impacts from the perspectives of geographical location, economic development, and resource endowment. Additionally, the impact mechanism of environmental protection tax pollution control is tested, with green technology innovation and industrial structure optimization as mediating variables.

The findings reveal the following: (1) The environmental protection tax policy significantly reduces the environmental pollution emissions in areas with increased tax burden. Among them, the tax significantly reduces the emissions of industrial "three wastes"(waste water, waste gas, and solid waste), although its inhibitory effect on carbon dioxide emissions remains less pronounced. (2) The heterogeneity test results indicate that the environmental protection tax exhibits more pronounced pollution control effects in eastern and central regions, economically developed cities, and non-resource-based cities. (3) The test results of the impact mechanism indicate that environmental protection tax promotes green technology innovation and the optimization of industrial structure, thereby reducing pollution emissions.

Based on the conclusions of empirical analysis, this paper proposes to adjust the environmental protection tax system and improve the collection and management mechanism to improve the environmental protection tax policy. On the basis of environmental protection tax, it is proposed to build a green tax system and promote the green transformation of the tax system. And it is proposed that to optimize the energy structure, encourage green innovation, and promote the optimization of industrial structure, so as to give full play to the pollution control effect of environmental protection tax.