Abstract In recent years, the standard degree of non-tax revenue collection and management in China has been strengthened. However, the fiscal revenue target still has an impact on the non-tax burden of enterprises, and the increase of the non-tax burden of enterprises may offset the effect of tax reduction and fee cuts. Based on prefecture-level municipal revenue target data and enterprise micro data, this paper explores the relationship between revenue targets in general public budgets and the non-tax expenditures of firms through empirical tests. The study finds that the higher the target faced by the government is, the greater the non-tax expenditures of firms. When faced with unmet targets or overachieved targets, the local government is motivated by, respectively, a refusal to rank at the bottom or a desire to move up. In contrast, when local governments meet their targets, they reduce their efforts in order to avoid raising their targets for the following year in a target-oriented manner. In the heterogeneity test, it is found that urban homogeneity will improve the competitive effect and make local governments strengthen non-tax management. Further,compared with state-owned enterprises and large enterprises, non-listed companies and small firms bear more of the non-tax burdens. The extended analysis shows that the completion of tax revenue has a negative effect on the collection of non-tax revenue. Local governments often choose to increase non-tax revenue to cope with the lack of tax revenue, and there is a certain degree of Tax-Fee substitution phenomenon. The study of this paper has a certain reference value for the reform of the tax collection and management system in China.
2022, Vol. 39 
