Abstract: China is facing serious challenges such as climate change，environmental protection and energy security，and developing a low-carbon economy is an important strategic option to address these challenges. Therefore，this paper extends the classical RBC model by introducing carbon tax，carbon emission，carbon stock and human capital. Based on the extended model，the low carbon development effect of carbon tax reform is simulated and analyzed. The results show that，the carbon tax reform which increases carbon tax income and reduces the distortion effect of capital tax and payroll tax，can effectively restrain carbon emissions and reduce carbon stock，and impel enterprises to increase their enthusiasm for emission reduction in the long-term. From the short-term effect，carbon tax reform can not only bring about the reduction of carbon emissions and carbon stock，but also have a positive impact on output through influencing the mechanism of human capital. In view of this，choosing the appropriate path of carbon tax reform and properly using carbon tax tools will effectively promote the development of China's low-carbon economy.