The tax refund arriving in the account is pure profit! A cash secret guide that foreign trade bosses must read

“I just received a tax refund of 38,000 yuan last month, which is equivalent to a direct increase in profit!” Mr. Zhang, who is engaged in clothing exports in Baiyun District, shared excitedly. In the highly competitive foreign trade industry, the policy dividend of import and export tax refund is becoming a secret weapon for more and more enterprises to enhance their competitiveness. This article will comprehensively analyze the whole process of import and export tax refund registration in Baiyun District and uncover the mystery of this “invisible benefit.”

According to data from the General Administration of Customs, in 2022, the national export tax refund was 1.67 trillion yuan, which is equivalent to injecting an average cash flow of 173,000 yuan into each enterprise. For the foreign trade industry with a general gross profit margin of 5% - 8%, the timely arrival of tax refunds can often directly determine the profit and loss of enterprises. Taking a luggage production enterprise in Baiyun District as an example, its annual export volume is 20 million yuan, and it can obtain a tax refund of about 1.4 million yuan through standardized declarations, which is equivalent to directly increasing the profit margin by 7%.

• Value-added tax refund: The value-added tax paid on exported goods can be fully refunded
• Consumption tax reduction and exemption: Some goods involving consumption tax can enjoy reduction and exemption
• Tariff preference: Tariff refund under special modes such as processing trade

Ms. Li, who is engaged in import and export trade, frankly said, “When I handled the tax refund for the first time, I had to make three round trips due to incomplete materials.” To avoid similar situations, the expert team of Zhongshitong has sorted out a standardized process:

Step 1: Eligibility confirmation
Enterprises need to have the general taxpayer qualification and complete the registration of import and export consignors and consignees at the customs. The Baiyun District Government Service Center provides a “dual-certificate joint handling” service, which can be completed synchronously within the fastest 3 working days.

Step 2: System filing
Log in to the Electronic Tax Bureau to complete the export tax refund (exemption) filing. Pay special attention to the selection of the “tax refund calculation method” (production type/foreign trade type). Choosing the wrong one may lead to the inability to modify it later.

Step 3: Document preparation
It is necessary to completely preserve the “three-in-one” certificates such as customs declaration forms, special value-added tax invoices, and ocean bills of lading. The Baiyun District Tax Bureau specially reminds that since 2023, paperless declarations have been fully implemented, and scanned copies need to be clear and distinguishable.

Step 4: Formal declaration
Submit the declaration through the Electronic Tax Bureau or the “single window” for international trade. For Class A enterprises, the tax refund can arrive in the account within the fastest 5 working days. It is worth noting that the first tax refund of newly established enterprises needs to undergo on-site verification.

During the process of assisting enterprises, we found that 80% of the tax refund delays are due to the following problems:

• The invoice information does not match the commodity name and quantity on the customs declaration form
• The difference between the foreign exchange receipt amount and the declared amount exceeds 5%
• Cross-border e-commerce enterprises do not retain logistics information as required

A certain lamp exporter once abbreviated “LED lamp” as “light bulb,” resulting in a two-month delay in a 120,000 yuan tax refund. It is recommended that enterprises establish a special tax refund account and arrange special personnel to conduct cross-checks of “documents - invoices - logistics.”

With the advancement of the “smart tax” construction, more than 60% of enterprises in Baiyun District have adopted intelligent tax refund systems. These tools can achieve:

• Automatically match customs declaration forms with input invoices
• Monitor the declaration progress in real-time
• Warn in advance about risk points

“Now the system will automatically prompt missing documents, and I don't have to worry about missing materials anymore.” Ms. Wang, who uses the intelligent system, said that the tax refund cycle of her company has been shortened from the original 20 days to 8 days.

According to incomplete statistics, there are approximately 320 million yuan of tax refunds that should be refunded but not refunded in Baiyun District every year, which is equivalent to the total profit of 200 small and micro enterprises in one year. It is recommended that enterprises immediately conduct three self-checks: Check the to-do items in the Electronic Tax Bureau, check the export details of the past two years, and evaluate the professionalism of tax refund personnel. If you have any questions during the handling process, you may leave a message in the comment section, and we will select typical questions for professional answers.