BEIJING, April 7 (Reuters) - China considers granting a hefty tax rebate on crude imports to relieve oil firms of heavy refining losses, to replace a more painful fuel price hike, official and analyst sources said on Monday.

Under the tax scheme proposed by oil firms and endorsed by the State Council last month, Beijing is expected to grant a three-quarters rebate of the 17 percent value-added tax on crude imports, said a government source familiar with the policy.

Liu Bo, Shanghai-based oil and chemicals sector analyst for Guojin Brokerage, said he heard the same proposal from his government contacts and anticipated such a scheme could be in place as early as this month.

"A tax rebate like this will avoid adding pressure to CPI, while giving companies like Sinopec a significant subsidy," said Liu.

"It's a more approriate approach, to subsidising whoever imports more crude."

Such a rebate is equivalent to about a 820 yuan per tonne increase in refined fuel prices, according to Liu's calculation.

Officials at the Ministry of Finance, the key government agency in charge of the tax policy, were not immediately available for comment.