Abstract: The imposition of environmental taxes may intensify a companys financing constraints，leading to its engagement in tax avoidance activities （financing constraints hypothesis），or elevate the political costs for businesses，restricting their tax avoidance behavior （ political cost hypothesis） Taking Chinas Ashare listed companies as samples，this paper reveals that the environmental tax burden significantly reduces a companys tax avoidance level，lending overall support to the political cost hypothesis Mechanism analysis highlights government oversight and societal scrutiny as two crucial mechanisms through which the environmental tax burden incents a companys motivation for tax avoidance Heterogeneity results reveal that the effects are more significant for stateowned companies，and for companies in industries with less pollution and in regions with higher fiscal pressure and lower environmental tax collection standards Further studies indicate that the inhibitory effect of the environmental tax burden on corporate tax avoidance limits a companys R&D investment but positively influences its market value

Key words: environmental tax burden, corporate tax avoidance, financing constraints, political costs

摘要： 环保税费的征收既可能因加剧企业的融资约束而导致其开展避税活动（融资约束假说），又可能因增加企业的政治成本而约束其避税行为（政治成本假说）。以中国沪深A股上市公司为样本，本文研究发现，环保税费负担能够显著降低企业的避税程度，总体上支持了政治成本假说的观点；机制检验发现，政府监督和社会关注是环保税费负担抑制企业避税动机的两个重要机制；异质性分析表明，在国有控股企业、非重污染行业、地方财政压力较大、地区环保税费征收标准较低的样本中，二者关系更为显著；经济后果研究表明，环保税费负担对企业避税行为的抑制效应限制了企业的研发投资，但对企业的市场价值却产生了积极的作用。

关键词: 环保税费负担, 企业避税, 融资约束, 政治成本