Attention for Foreign Trade Practitioners! Can Tax Refunds Be Claimed Even Without Receiving Payment for Goods?

"Ms. Li exported a batch of goods worth $200,000 last month, but the customer has been slow to pay. What makes her even more anxious is that the finance department has reminded her that the deadline for tax refund declaration is approaching. Can she apply for a tax refund for this 'castle in the air' order?"

According to the current policies, the core condition for export tax refunds is that the goods have actually left the country and customs clearance has been completed. As long as you can provide complete customs declarations, special VAT invoices and other materials, theoretically, you can still apply for tax refunds even if the payment for goods has not been received.

However, special attention should be paid to the following risk points:

• If foreign exchange has not been collected for a long time after tax refunds, the tax bureau may require the repayment of taxes
• If it exceeds the foreign exchange collection period (usually before the declaration period in April of the following year), supporting materials need to be submitted

Situation 1: The customer has temporary difficulties in capital turnover
It is recommended to sign a written deferred payment agreement with the customer and file it with the State Administration of Foreign Exchange. Experts from Zhongshitong remind that the deferment should not exceed 9 months, otherwise it will affect the eligibility for tax refunds.

Situation 2: The customer maliciously delays payment for goods
Legal procedures should be initiated immediately, and the following materials should be prepared to cope with tax inspections:

• International trade arbitration awards or court judgments
• Bankruptcy certificates of the buyer issued by a third party
• Claims settlement documents of export credit insurance

Situation 3: Cross-border e-commerce retail exports
For small parcel goods exported through platforms such as Amazon, the platform transaction data can be regarded as foreign exchange collection without waiting for the actual receipt of funds.

1. Pre-event Prevention: When cooperating with new customers for the first time, it is recommended to purchase export credit insurance

2. In-event Monitoring: Establish an accounts receivable early warning mechanism and initiate collection efforts once it is overdue for 30 days

3. Post-event Remediation: If foreign exchange has not been collected in the end, a special treatment regarded as foreign exchange collection can be applied for (subject to meeting 12 legal situations)

Mr. Zhang's case is worth learning from: While applying for tax refunds, he used the "Tax Refund + Debt Collection" combined service provided by Zhongshitong, not only retaining the 13% tax refund but also successfully recovering the payment for goods that was overdue for 8 months.

Have you ever encountered a similar dilemma? Welcome to share your coping experiences in the comment section. Click to follow to get more dry goods on foreign trade risk control. Next time, we will explain in detail the latest operation guide for regarding as foreign exchange collection in 2024.