Is Export Tax Rebate like Picking up Money for Free? 90% of People Don't Get It

"Mr. Zhang recently received an overseas order. He thought he could make a big profit, but when it came to settlement, he found that the profits were 'eaten up' by taxes and fees by more than half..." Such stories are not uncommon in the foreign trade circle. As an important policy of the country to encourage foreign trade, export tax rebate can effectively reduce enterprise costs, but the complicated process often makes people flinch. Today, we will use a practical article to take you through the complete operation logic of export tax rebate.

In simple terms, export tax rebate is "pay first and refund later": The value-added tax and consumption tax paid by enterprises in the procurement process will be refunded at the prescribed proportion after the goods are exported. Currently, it is mainly divided into two modes:

• Exemption, Credit and Refund of Tax: Production enterprises exporting self-produced goods can offset the taxable amount of domestic sales
• Exemption and Refund of Tax: Foreign trade enterprises purchasing goods for export will directly refund the tax paid in the procurement process

Step 1: Qualification Preparation

It is necessary to complete the registration of customs declaration units, apply for electronic port cards, register on the list of the Foreign Exchange Administration, and handle the export tax rebate (exemption) filing in the tax bureau. Ms. Li's lesson: Her enterprise once delayed the tax rebate for 3 months due to missing the registration on the foreign exchange list.

Step 2: Document Collection

• Customs Declaration Form (it must be completely consistent with the name of the goods on the value-added tax invoice)
• Special Value-Added Tax Invoice (the invoice copies are complete, and the tax rate column shows "0%")
• Ocean Bill of Lading / Air Waybill (it must match the transportation mode on the customs declaration form)

Fill in the export goods tax rebate (exemption) declaration form through the electronic tax bureau or the single window system, and pay attention to distinguishing between "complete documents" and "incomplete documents" declarations. Experts from Zhongshitong remind: Since 2023, the "digitalization of filing documents" has been implemented nationwide, and enterprises are required to save electronic version documents for at least 5 years.

Step 4: Tax Rebate Arriving in the Account

After being approved by the tax department, the tax rebate will generally reach the enterprise's account within 15 working days. If selected for on-site verification, it is necessary to cooperate by providing original contracts, payment vouchers and other materials.

These details may make all your previous efforts in vain:

• If the difference between the customs declaration amount and the foreign exchange collection amount exceeds ±5%, an explanation needs to be submitted
• If no foreign exchange is collected for exported samples, tax rebate cannot be applied for
• For cross-border e-commerce B2C exports, special attention should be paid to the regulatory codes "9710" and "9810"

For enterprises with an annual export volume exceeding 5 million yuan, it is recommended:

• Establish a special ledger for export tax rebate
• Use an ERP system to achieve "automatic document matching"
• Plan in advance the correspondence between the customs declaration item names and invoice codes