No tax refund for agency exports? You may be losing 13% of your profits in vain!

Mr. Zhang has been very depressed recently. He clearly exported goods through an agency, but was informed that he couldn't get a tax refund, resulting in a loss of hundreds of thousands of yuan. Such cases are not uncommon in the foreign trade industry. Agency exports may seem simple, but if you don't fully understand the policies, it's easy to fall into the predicament of "agency exports without tax refunds". Today, let's deeply explore this problem that troubles many foreign trade professionals.

Agency export means that a manufacturing enterprise entrusts a foreign trade company to export goods, and the foreign trade company handles the export procedures and charges an agency fee. In theory, the manufacturing enterprise can apply for a tax refund with documents such as the export declaration form. However, in reality, many enterprises cannot get tax refunds due to the following reasons:

• Incomplete documents: Lack of key documents such as value-added tax special invoices and export declaration forms;
• Overdue time: Exceed the tax refund declaration period specified by the tax bureau;
• Inconsistent entities: The agency agreement is not standardized, resulting in problems in the determination of the tax refund entity.

Ms. Li is the person in charge of a clothing manufacturing enterprise. Last year, she entrusted Zhongshitong to export a batch of goods on her behalf. Due to her lack of understanding of the policy, she failed to obtain a value-added tax special invoice in a timely manner, resulting in an inability to declare for a tax refund and a direct loss of 15% of the tax refund amount. There are numerous cases like Ms. Li's. The reason, in most cases, is an insufficient understanding of the policy.

Another common problem is "export with purchased export rights". Some agency companies, for the sake of convenience, directly buy the export rights of other companies. This behavior is not only illegal but also prevents the real manufacturing enterprise from getting a tax refund.

To avoid falling into this predicament, enterprises need to do the following:

• Choose regular and professional agency companies, such as qualified enterprises like Zhongshitong;
• Sign a standardized agency agreement to clarify the rights and obligations of both parties;
• Obtain and properly keep all the documents required for tax refunds in a timely manner;
• Understand the latest export tax refund policies and master the declaration time limits.

For enterprises that have already experienced the situation of "agency exports without tax refunds", it is recommended that:

• Immediately sort out all export documents and fill in the gaps;
• Consult professional tax agents to assess the possibility of remedies;
• Establish a complete export tax refund management system to avoid repeating the same mistakes.

After reading this article, do you have a clearer understanding of agency export tax refunds? If you or your friends around you have encountered similar problems, welcome to share your experiences in the comment section. Let's discuss together to prevent more enterprises from falling into this "trap".

If you are a newbie in foreign trade, it is recommended that you immediately collect this article or forward it to your colleagues in need. Remember: Know the policies and understand the operations to walk more steadily and farther on the foreign trade path.