Accepted Manuscript

Suggestion on Tax Policy for Promoting the PPP Projects of Charging

Infrastructure in China

Tong Yang, Ruyin Long, Wenbo Li

PII: S0959-6526(17)32505-2

DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.10.197

Reference: JCLP 10989

To appear in: Journal of Cleaner Production

Received Date: 01 April 2017

Revised Date: 21 July 2017

Accepted Date: 18 October 2017

Please cite this article as: Tong Yang, Ruyin Long, Wenbo Li, Suggestion on Tax Policy for
Promoting the PPP Projects of Charging Infrastructure in China, Journal of Cleaner Production
(2017), doi: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.10.197

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 ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT

Highlights:

1. Tax is an exogenous variable of the vehicle charging infrastructure in a PPP

project.
2. Analyzed the relevant tax policy of China's vehicle charging infrastructure PPP
projects.
3. To create a favorable tax policy environment for the development of vehicle
charging infrastructures.
4. Top-level design of tax laws is key to promoting PPP vehicle charging projects.
5. Differential dynamic preferential tax policies favor PPP vehicle charging projects.
 ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT

Suggestion on Tax Policy for Promoting the PPP Projects of Charging

Infrastructure in China
Tong Yang1，2, Ruyin Long*1, Wenbo Li1
(1. School of Management, China University of Mining and Technology Xuzhou, Jiangsu province, China; 2.

School of Finance & Public Administration, Anhui University of Finance and Economics, Bengbu 233030, China,)

Abstract: Tax is an exogenous variable of the vehicle charging infrastructure in a

Public–Private Partnership (PPP), and tax policy will play a great role in regulation
during the contract cooperation in PPP mode for vehicle charging infrastructure. This
study analyzed the relevant tax policy of China's current vehicle charging
infrastructure PPP projects, and identified several problems, such as a low level of
legislation, lack of fairness, many ambiguous areas, lack of refinement, obsolete tax
incentives, lack of pertinence, low degree of policy coordination and poor
systematization. To perfect the tax policy of a vehicle charging infrastructure PPP
project, it is necessary to give policy suggestions based on the establishment of rules
and regulations, classification of tax-related expenditure, construction of
differentiated dynamic tax preferential policies and construction of a multi-level
coordination and supporting policy system. Project experience should also be
summarized, to create a favorable tax policy environment for the forecasted rapid
development of vehicle charging infrastructures.

Keywords: charging infrastructure; public-private partnership (PPP); tax policy

1. Introduction and Literature Review

The effective supply of vehicle charging infrastructure is an important step to

popularize the application of new energy vehicles, promote the transformation and
upgrade of the automobile industry, ease the pressure on traditional energy sources, and
consequently enhance the quality of the urban environment (Mi et al., 2016). To
ultimately meet the charging needs of electric vehicles, the application of the Public–
Private Partnership (PPP) model in vehicle charging infrastructure will experience prior
communication and contract, as well as social capital introduced into charging
infrastructure under the encouragement, guidance and participation of the government.

Corresponding author: Ruyin Long, E-mail: longruyin@163.com

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On the one hand, most scholars are focusing their attention on innovations in
charging technology; the development, utilization and life-span extension dilation of
new batteries; and the layout of charging infrastructure from the perspectives of
physical and chemical principles (Dong et al., 2014; Liu, 2012; Rahman et al., 2016;
Han et al., 2014; Zhao and Sun, 2015; Morrow et al., 2008; Dumortier et al., 2016). In
addition, some scholars are concerned about the formulation of the construction
standards for vehicle charging infrastructure (Liu, 2012; Foley et al., 2011; Philip and
Wiederer, 2010). Without these standards, charging infrastructure may become too
complex and uncertain, which is not conducive to the compatible use of consumers,
resulting in great waste. Such research has attempted to make the application of vehicle
charging infrastructure more effective, convenient and safe.
On the other hand, some scholars have conducted research on the construction and
operation of charging infrastructure from economic perspectives. Åhman (2006)
studied Japan's electric vehicle development, and concluded that technological progress
and policy support are the main factors influencing the construction of charging
infrastructure from the perspective of public finance. From the perspectives of financial
subsidies and tax credits, Skerlos and Winebrake (2010) made a comparative analysis
of public policies in the USA on electric vehicles and charging infrastructure. Schroeder
and Traber (2012) argued that in Germany it would not be possible to promote the
construction of vehicle charging infrastructure on a large scale without also vigorously
promoting the use of electric vehicles and greatly reducing the construction cost of
charging infrastructure. Serradilla et al. (2017) thought that the UK's recharging
infrastructure is still at an initial stage of innovation, and recommended that the
government should continue to strengthen the incentives for fiscal taxation. Exploring
the mature commercial operation providing mode and seeking the best profit form have
become topics of common interest among Chinese scholars. Among these scholars, tax
policy research is also being gradually launched, and they believe that the current
government tax expenditure and financial subsidies and other financial expenses are
particularly necessary. In summary, to some extent, policy support strength determines
the development of vehicle charging infrastructure.
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Meanwhile, much academic research has focused on the application of the PPP
model in infrastructure construction. However, current research is mainly focused on
the macroscopic level. The main research includes risk analysis (Chan et al., 2010),
benefit sharing and pricing mechanism formulation. Moreover, related policy
recommendations (Zhang, 2005) are also included, such as legal considerations,
financial subsidies and governmental compensation policies. In the study of policy
support for the PPP model, Verhoest et al. (2015) carried out an empirical study,
designed a PPP governmental support index, and believed that government support is
a necessary factor for PPP activity in a country. Thackway and Olsson (1999) analyzed
the positive role of the PPP model in biodiversity conservation and sustainable
development in Australia through four cases, and pointed out the role of government in
macro-coordination and related policy protection. Ke et al. (2009) demonstrated that
social capitalists believe that "tax incentives" are the most effective way to finance PPP
projects through case studies. Sun and Li (2017) analyzed the existing problems of PPP
projects and provided a top-level design. However, because China's PPP projects are
still in the initial stage, the application of the PPP model in vehicle charging
infrastructure has a short history, and little relevant research is available. Furthermore,
only a few scholars in China investigate tax policies and tax system constraints in PPP
projects. There is no specific tax policy research on charging infrastructure PPP
projects.
This paper argues that the magnitude of tax directly impacts the price of vehicle
charging services and project operation cost and income, although the tax policy is the
exogenous variable of PPP projects for vehicle charging infrastructure. Therefore, tax
policy plays an increasing regulatory role in the provision of vehicle charging
infrastructure compared to other infrastructure. Tax policy is an important means to
adjust the vehicle charging infrastructure externalities, and also an engine to stimulate
the vitality of the market and make up for the insufficient supply of vehicle charging
infrastructure. The current tax policy in China has many deficiencies, including weak
directionality, instability, loose connection, low degree of refinement and coordination,
and obsolete tax incentives. Insufficient supply of vehicle charging infrastructure
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weakens the competitiveness of electric vehicles in the market, and constrains the scale
of the sector. This paper first describes the status of PPP projects for the vehicle
charging infrastructure in China. Then suggestions are made that address the possible
problems of tax policy in the projects, to encourage the supply-side reform of charging
infrastructure. Lastly, this paper describes necessary refinements to the policy support
means of PPP projects.

2. Status of PPP Projects for the Vehicle Charging Infrastructure in China

Presently in the field of charging infrastructure for electric vehicles, many

stakeholders are active, including the government and grid companies, petroleum and
petrochemical companies, electric vehicle manufacturers, battery manufacturers, and
property companies. The development speeds of provincial vehicle charging
infrastructure are different because of factors that include the levels of economic and
social development, openness and policy support, as well as the distribution of electric
vehicle manufacturers. However, the rate of development has advanced significantly
on the whole. With the introduction of “Guiding Opinions on Accelerating the
Construction of the Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure” (2015) issued by the State
Council on 9 October 2015, most of the provinces (shown in Fig. 1) have promulgated
corresponding guiding opinions during the 13th Five-Year Plan period. Nevertheless,
details of these opinions need to be clarified and policies need to be implemented,
especially for the uncertain tax policies.

Fig. 1. Distribution of provinces and municipalities in China having promulgated vehicle charging

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infrastructure policy recommendations as of 1 November 2016.

China has started the construction and operation of vehicle charging infrastructure
in the public service field through innovative PPP models. By July 2017, 13 PPP
projects involved in charging infrastructure (shown in Fig. 2) were included in the
National Project Library of Integrated Information Platform for PPP (2017),
specifically in energy, communication and transportation or municipal construction.
Tax policies are mainly associated with preferential corporate income, specifically tax
deduction and exemption in public infrastructure projects and tax credit for investment,
and policies related to dividend distribution of companies during the operation period.
Furthermore, some policies are still connected with added-value tax, tax on the
occupancy of cultivated land, land use tax, deed tax and other taxes. Unfortunately, the
beneficial objects in these policies are not clear, so that the entry of social capital may
be hindered to some extent. These projects are initiated by the government, are
subjected to a value-for-money evaluation, must demonstrate financial capacity and
involve a long period of cooperation. Furthermore, the traditional Build–Operate–
Transfer (BOT) mode is adopted by most of the projects. However, because the
initiation time is recent, these projects are still in the early stage of identification and
preparation. Follow-up projects will obtain investment returns through User
Reimbursement and Viability Gap Funding. This funding mechanism may increase
local government debts, therefore demonstration and leading effects wait to be further
enhanced. The optimization of tax incentives can not only promote "financial balance"
of these projects, but also provide stable policy expectations for the market and steady
benefit expectations for social capital. In addition, because operational risks of projects
can be reduced, operational confidence can be enhanced and the development of green
low-carbon transport can be promoted.

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Fig. 2. Public–private partnership projects for charging infrastructure (National Project Library of Integrated
Information Platform for PPP, 2017).

3. Problems Related to Tax Policies during the Operation of PPP Projects for
Vehicle Charging Infrastructure

Public–private partnership projects for vehicle charging infrastructure are

characterized by contributions to public welfare, and the participation of social capital
requires a reasonable return on investment. Appropriate tax policy support can reduce
operation costs and risks of the projects, improve the efficiency of resource allocation
and create a favorable policy environment for public–private cooperation. Therefore,
good-quality vehicle charging infrastructure can be effectively provided. However,
many problems exist related to tax policies during the operation of PPP projects for
vehicle charging infrastructure.

3.1 Low Levels of Legislation and Lack of Fairness

According to the 2011 Asian Development Bank's assessment of the

environmental maturity of the PPP system in 15 countries in the Asia Pacific region
and the United Kingdom, China scored 49.8 points, followed by South Korea (71.3
points), India (64.8 points) and Japan (63.7 points). Compared with countries having
mature PPP applications, such as Australia (92.3 points) and the United Kingdom (89.7
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points), the gap is great. At present, scattered tax policies exist related to China's PPP
projects for vehicle charging infrastructure and these policies are described in a few
files in the national database (National Project Library of Integrated Information
Platform for PPP, 2017). These policies focus on the application of enterprise income
tax, value-added tax (VAT), land occupation tax, land use tax, and deed tax. These tax
incentives are related to the transfer of stock rights or asset transactions between the
government and social capital, and are relevant to investment credit. China lacks
specialized laws and policies to address taxation in the context of PPP projects.
Unfortunately, to encourage the participation of social capital in the PPP projects, only
tax laws and regulations and policies presently existing can be used. Therefore, during
a project’s life cycle, many obstacles will be faced in implementing tax policies.
Incorrect implementation may cause controversy between tax authorities and
enterprises, which will lead to a deviation from the principle of law-based tax
administration, and harm promotion of the PPP model.
Charging infrastructure can be used to meet regional vehicle charging needs, and
the needs along cross-provincial electronic highways. Consequently, urgent
determination is needed of the bodies targeted by tax policies about the PPP projects.
Both tax exemptions and reduced taxes ignore the differences in expenditure liabilities
between local governments and the central government in construction and operation
of projects. In policies on tax deduction for local PPP projects, the deduction should
exist in the local tax or the shared tax belonging to the local government, rather than
the tax that belongs to the central government. Otherwise the tax policy would
constitute central-to-local transfer payments, and deviate from the modern tax system
corresponding to expenditure liabilities, resulting in an unfair situation. Geographic
areas that are more developed have more PPP projects for vehicle charging
infrastructure, as well as more deduction in the tax that belongs to the central
government, expanding tax distortion effects. From the perspective of enterprise scale,
large enterprises such as the State Grid Corporation of China enjoy a higher degree of
participation in PPP projects than do small and medium-sized enterprises. Therefore,
only a few enterprises can share preferential tax policies through PPP projects, which
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is unfair to other enterprises.

3.2 Ambiguous Areas and Lack of Refinement

Currently, there is no clear rule about the taxation of government subsidies gained
by social capital in PPP projects for vehicle charging infrastructure. According to the
Notice on the Use of Corporate Income Tax, Special-purpose Fiscal Funds issued by
State Administration of Taxation from Ministry of Finance (Finance and Taxation No.
70 [2011]), taxes cannot be levied on investment subsidies provided by the government
for social capital in the construction of PPP projects. However, if the government
provides price subsidies during the operation of the projects, the subsidies may be
recognized as non-taxable income. In fact, taxes should be levied on investment
subsidies because fees for vehicle charging services and electricity are priced under the
regulation of the government, price subsidies are a transfer of incomes to consumers
through social capital, and social capital does not benefit. There is no clear rule to
determine the nature of the excess dividends gained by social capital involved in the
construction and operation of vehicle charging infrastructure. In addition, no tax
policies on periodic leasing and other emerging sectors in vehicle charging
infrastructure are yet available.
Double taxation may occur. Besides Build-Operate-Transfer projects, there are a
variety of other forms of the PPP model for charging infrastructure (Delmon, 2010),
such as Build-Own-Operate, Renovate-Operate-Transfer, Transfer-Operate-Transfer,
Operation and Maintenance, and Management Contract. For instance, in Build-
Operate-Transfer and Transfer-Operate-Transfer projects, the transfer of assets or stock
rights may involve turnover tax or corporate income tax or both. The uncertain nature
of the tax transfer may cause potential tax risks for social capital or unnecessary tax
costs for project sponsors. Using Transfer-Operate-Transfer projects as an example,
two transfers of assets projects appear between the government and social capital.
Double taxation may exist due to the absence of deductible VAT invoices. Furthermore,
there is lack of clarity about how to address the ownership of assets if the franchise
period far exceeds the economic life of the assets. Furthermore, it is unclear whether
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input VAT deductible in PPP projects can apply for tax returns.

3.3 Obsolete Tax Incentive Policies and Lack of Pertinence

Tax incentives in PPP projects first appeared in Guidance on Promoting the

Public-Private Partnership Model in the Public Service Field (2017), jointly issued by
the Ministry of Finance, National Development and Reform Commission, and People's
Bank of China in May 2015.The guidance proposes that tax incentive policies can be
applied to PPP projects for public services, but there is no specific implementation plan.
While income tax incentives and VAT incentives are enjoyed by social capital in
vehicle charging infrastructure, these incentives were formulated to address the
European and American financial crisis in 2008. The tax incentives were designed to
encourage enterprises to invest in infrastructure projects and stimulate economic
growth. However, similar preferential policies were not introduced for the PPP model,
causing the following problems. One problem is the limited preferential coverage. For
example, the "three exemptions and three reductions" policy related to corporate
income taxes does not apply to all emerging industries, such as electric vehicle charging
infrastructure (Wang and Tiong, 2000). In addition, short preferential periods cause
insufficient benefits for PPP projects for vehicle charging infrastructure, because the
projects mostly have large-scale investments and long recycling periods. Another
problem is that tax incentives are narrowly applied. If social capital is unprofitable in
PPP projects, it will interrupt the cooperation with the government. Therefore, tax
policies should be flexible to provide appropriate benefits to ensure that social capital
is “profitable, but not excessively so”.

3.4 Low Degree of Policy Coordination and Poor System of Administration

The central government has a clear target under the strategic pattern of vehicle
charging infrastructure that is moderately advanced. However, in the implementation
of specific local projects, tax policies effectively depend on the optimization of policy
design and the coordination with other policies related to banking, finance and energy.
At present, although financial subsidy effects are obviously stronger than tax support

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effects in vehicle charging infrastructure, many existing problems still exist. As far as
financial subsidies of the electric vehicle industry are concerned, fraudulent incidents
occur frequently due to the poor orientation of subsidies. Financing is difficult in the
initial stage of projects because of the lack of relevant monetary policies. Problems
cannot be underestimated in terms of land use, power grid coordination, property
management, profitability and utilization rate balance. The lack of various policies and
overlap of others urgently require an effective solution.

4. Tax Policy Recommendations to Improve PPP Projects for Vehicle Charging

Infrastructure

Currently, mixed ownership of vehicle charging infrastructure is advancing in

China, the supply-side reform is developing continuously, and the investment window
for charging infrastructure has opened. At such an important period, the essential
configurations for energy supply for electric vehicles should be provided and
distributed ahead of time, to meet the operating needs of electric cars in key areas or of
inter-city cars. At this period, the government plays a crucial guiding role. In the whole
life cycle of public–private cooperation projects, top-level design and refinement
related to tax policies has yet to be optimized, and awareness of service and regulation
has to be strengthened. The weaknesses can be solved from several aspects, such as
establishment of rules and regulations, sorting treatment, dynamic mechanism
construction and matching coordination.

4.1 Establish Rules and Regulations, and Reduce Tax Distortion Effects

After introducing social capital into construction of vehicle charging infrastructure

through the PPP model, it is imperative to clarify objects of taxation in PPP projects
and to promote policy operability. Since the legislative process is relatively slow,
existing relevant tax laws and regulations must be maintained, revised and
supplemented. South Korea is one of the few countries with relatively complete PPP
legislation in Asia. After more than 10 years, it has formed a relatively complete legal
system with the support of the law on civil participation in infrastructure as amended
in 2005; there are more systematic tax policy proposals in this law. Britain has not
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enacted separate tax policies for PPP, but has added exceptional tax breaks for PPP
projects. In its investment law, Vietnam defines tax incentives for infrastructure
projects, including the PPP project. These rules can be used to balance rational incomes
of social capital and public benefits, balance "public welfare" and "tax distortion", and
balance rights and obligations between the central and the local governments. In the
long run, it is necessary to actively promote the implementation of the statutory
principle of taxation, and to establish new types of taxes (such as the carbon tax) to
continuously improve public welfare. In the construction of vehicle charging
infrastructure, diversified participants will be involved with different interest demands,
as well as complex transaction structures coupled with the huge investment. Therefore,
the key elements for developing and promoting PPP projects include the top-level
design of tax laws and regulations and the formulation of tax treatment guidelines.
Before the implementation of a new taxation system, the existing tax system
should be followed to strengthen policy adjustment during the life cycle of PPP
projects, beginning with the ways to fund the initial stage and the establishment of
organizational forms, and continuing to project operation, income distribution and
assets transfer at the agreed end of the project. To avoid the occurrence of tax distortion
effects, the tax rebate system on investment input taxes can be followed, tax support for
turning vehicle charging infrastructure projects into PPP projects can be enhanced, and
so on. In addition, the tax collection and administration system should be unified to
reduce discretion.

4.2 Treat Tax-related Government Expenditure by Category

The government's initial participation in vehicle charging infrastructure

construction will help to reduce costs, create economies of scale and guide market
demand. The participation will also enable enterprises to overcome uncertainty and
disorder, promote technological innovation of charging stations, and effectively reduce
investment and operation risks of the stations. Governments at all levels should promote
the application of the PPP model in the field of vehicle charging infrastructure through
economic instruments, especially fiscal expenditure instruments. The instruments
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mainly include government investment subsidies, loans with discounted interest, price
subsidies, free allocation of land, and transfer of part or all of dividend rights owned by
government shareholders. For these government subsidies, tax treatment should be
categorized. For instance, government payments, financial subsidies and investment
subsidies gained by social capital can be identified as non-taxable incomes.
In the construction process of PPP projects for vehicle charging infrastructure,
social capital should seek professional cooperation. Social capital should communicate
fully with the local authorities and strive to obtain relevant written agreements, to
reduce the occurrence of unexpected events, especially in determining the amount of
tax rebate and tax relief or the distribution of financial funds.

4.3 Establish Differential Dynamic Preferential Tax Policies

Public–private partnership projects for vehicle charging infrastructure involve the

production of quasi-public goods and are closely related to public interests. Electricity
prices and vehicle charging service fees are generally priced under the guidance of the
government, and it is difficult for social capital to adjust supply prices according to
supply and demand. In addition to reasonable subsidies, tax incentives can push PPP
projects forward to a certain extent.
Implementing the preferential tax policy is a common practice for many countries
to support PPP project construction. China can learn from this practice. First, China can
establish a tax exemption period for PPP projects, such as is done in Indonesia where a
5–10 years' corporate income tax exemption period is granted for infrastructure
construction. The PPP project for infrastructure construction in Thailand has an
enterprise income tax exemption period of 8 years. Second, China can reduce the tax
rate of enterprise income tax. Some countries reduce the tax rate of enterprise income
tax according to the type of behavior or other factors. Vietnam, for example, provides
an enterprise income tax rate of 10% for the entire PPP project period. Moreover,
Vietnam allows enterprises to accelerate depreciation, so that the depreciation period
of the project investment assets is close to the investment period; this is the most
commonly used preferential tax policy in the PPP project of infrastructure construction.
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PPP project life cycle includes project identification, project preparation, project
procurement, project implementation and project transfer. The first three links involve
few tax issues, and the tax-related issues are mainly concentrated in the stage of project
implementation and transfer. Therefore, the current preferential tax policy should focus
more on turnover tax, in particular in the trade link of transferring assets between the
government and social capital. The Chinese Ministry of Finance has proposed advice
on tax incentives supporting the Public–Private Partnership (PPP) model and has begun
to seek proposals. From the perspective of intermediate links of taxation, tax incentives
will focus on transaction and transfer of assets in the foundation and implementation
phases of companies involved with PPP projects, to maintain tax neutrality. From a
regional perspective, tax incentives need to be based on local plans. Differential
preferential tax policies can be applied to regions undergoing rapid development,
regions where vehicle charging infrastructure is being demonstrated and promoted and
regions experiencing active promotion. In these regions, tax relief can be obtained by
corporations through tax rebates. Non-operational projects should share the largest tax
incentives, while quasi-operational projects and operational projects should have
decreased tax incentives in sequence. Considering the long term nature and
compatibility of PPP projects for vehicle charging infrastructure, combined with the
strengthening of industrial competence, the design and arrangement of dynamic
preferential tax policies should be improved step by step. Once the market matures, the
market mechanism should play the most significant role, and in the meantime
supportive tax policies should be phased out. For that reason, the withdrawal
mechanism should be arranged in advance. In terms of preferential ways, there are a
variety of taxation forms that can be comprehensively used, such as tax exemption, tax
deduction, tax credit, preferential tax rate, deferral tax, profit and loss balance,
accelerated depreciation and tax rebate. In terms of preferential forces, there are many
ways to raise social capital’s enthusiasm, such as increasing tax support, enhancing
incentives, reducing operating costs and investment risks and ensuring social capital
receives reasonable rates of return on investment. Nevertheless, tax incentives should
be appropriate, so that social capital can be "profitable but not excessively so" and the
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needs for vehicle charging services can be effectively satisfied.

4.4 Build a Multi-level Supporting Policy System

From the perspective of optimizing the policy system, in the field of PPP projects
for vehicle charging infrastructure, tax policies should be coordinated with the finance,
banking, industrial development and administrative management policies, to jointly
promote the orderly development of the projects. The coordination can also be
beneficial to achieve a win-win status of the government and social capital, provide
good-quality vehicle charging services for society and meet current vehicle charging
needs. In terms of fiscal policies, government should actively attempt to establish
incentive and subsidy policies based on the amount of vehicle charging, to reduce the
fees of vehicle charging services and to combat "fraudulent" behaviors. In addition, the
construction of vehicle charging facilities in new or existing buildings should be given
fiscal policy support connected with land use. In terms of financial policies, investment
and financing methods are becoming more diversified with the deepening of the system
reform. Because taxation is a non-negligible cost, taxation support policies are urgently
needed. The establishment of the green consumption credit platform will provide
funding sources for the PPP projects. From the perspective of industrial chain
development, tax policies should be considered in the source of research and
development of vehicle charging infrastructure. Market development can be promoted
through tax incentives, emphasizing the design and production of low-cost and good-
quality electric vehicles, and strengthening support for specific activities such as
technological development, information collection, energy supply, electric vehicle
promotion and green transportation development.
Improving tax policies related to PPP projects for vehicle charging infrastructure,
and attempting to find effective ways of social capital leveraged by financial funds to
participate in the construction of infrastructure, both have an important practical
significance in encouraging the development of the electric vehicle industry chain and
enhancing the capacity of national governance. At present, to promote the industry’s
orderly development, relevant tax policies need improving gradually in all the
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aforementioned aspects, to create a favorable tax policy environment for the rapid
development of PPP projects for vehicle charging infrastructure, and ultimately serve
green development of Chinese society and the economy.

Acknowledgments:

The authors gratefully acknowledge the editors and anonymous referees for their comments
regarding this study. We are grateful for support from the National Natural Science Foundation of
China (Grant Nos. 71273258 and 71473247), the Philosophy and Social Sciences Planning Project
of Anhui province (No.AHSKQ2016D103), the Innovation Project on Postgraduate Education of
Jiangsu Province (Grant nos. KYZZ16_0206 and KYLX16_0514), and the National Social Science
Fund Youth Project of China (grant No. 14CJY059).

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