Foreign literature review of non-renewable resources taxation

Different tax instruments for non-renewable resources differ in resources extraction path,price formation and tax revenue.What is the optimal resources taxation and how to design it?Various assumptions and methods were adopted to study these issues and different conclusions were achieved.In this paper,three aspects are reviewed which are tax neutrality,optimal taxation and principles in designing resources taxation.While neutrality is a fundamental principle for designing resources taxation,tax has effects of time titling and output distortion.The neutrality of resource rent tax is queried because of uncertainty factors,asymmetric information and enterprise structure.In terms of studying on optimal taxation,in which comparative study method and three kinds of evaluation indicators based on maximum benefit were used,there was no research consensus achieved.Study on optimal tax rate are scarce.Besides tax neutrality,taxpayers' response to taxation and risk sharing should also be considered in designing resource taxation.Some issues should be studied further in the future which include:1description of taxpayers' behavior;2risk distribution between government and enterprises;3comprehensive comparison of alternative taxes;4levy on vertically integrated firms;5optimal tax rate.