Abstract: As a voluntary environmental regulation tool widely used, environmental management system certification is an important starting point for enterprises’ green transformation and high-quality development. We select A-share listed enterprises from 2008 to 2021 as the initial samples and use the multi-way fixed effect model to explore the impact of environmental management system certification on enterprises’ tax avoidance. Our findings show that enterprises that pass environmental management system certification avoid tax to a less extent than those that do not. Mechanism test finds that environmental management system certification demotivates enterprises from avoiding tax avoidance by exposing them to less financing constraints and a better external information environment. Further analysis finds that environmental management system certification has a stronger inhibitory effect on the tax avoidance of enterprises that are private owned, operate in a less financially developed region or in other situations that confront them with high financing pressure. Additionally, the negative relationship between environmental management system certification and enterprises’ tax avoidance is significantly pronounced for enterprises that receive less media attention, are audited by non-“Big Four” auditing firms, or exposed to a poor information environment for other reasons. Finally, the economic consequences analysis shows that the tax avoidance inhibiting effect of environmental management system certification increases the value of enterprises as a whole. This study provides new insights for the green and low-carbon transformation of enterprises and the promotion of sustainable economic development.

Key words: environmental management system certification, tax avoidance, financing constraints, information environment