Abstract: The policy of VAT (value-added tax) credit refunds makes VAT more neutral, which has an important impact on the optimization of the asset structure of Chinese enterprises. Based on the data of China’s A-share listed companies from the first quarter of 2017 to the fourth quarter of 2019, a DID (Differences-in-Differences) model on the quasi-natural experiment of Fiscal and Tax［2018］ 70 in China is built to test the impact of VAT credit refunds on enterprises’ asset structure. It is found that VAT credit refunds improves the ratio of enterprises’ fixed assets by reducing financing constraints and promoting the investment of main industries. Further investigation shows that the policy increases the proportion of fixed assets of non-state-owned enterprises, large-scale enterprises and mature enterprises more obviously. According to the conclusion, suggestions are put forward such as appropriately reducing the VAT credit refunds requirements of small and micro enterprises and startups, further improving tax refund efficiency, guarding against the risk of tax fraud and encouraging labor-intensive enterprises to provide more jobs.

Key words: VAT credit refunds, asset structure, DID model, VAT