What is a Tax Refund?

Tax refund means that for some reason, the tax authority will refund the tax collected to the original taxpayer in accordance with the prescribed procedures. Mainly include: (1) Multiple symptoms due to work errors. (2) Policy tax refunds. Due to changes in tax policy. (3) Tax refunds for other reasons. Tax refund procedure: The taxpayer submits an application for tax refund to the tax authority, and after approval by the tax authority, it is processed according to different circumstances. ^[1] On October 8, 2018, Premier Li Keqiang hosted an executive meeting of the State Council to determine measures to improve the export tax rebate policy and accelerate the progress of tax rebates, in order to reduce the burden on enterprises and maintain a stable growth in foreign trade. ^[2]

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General procedures for export tax rebates and attached documents General procedures for export tax rebate registration:

1. Recipients of certificate submission and registration forms shall obtain tax refund registration for export enterprises within 30 days after obtaining documents from the relevant authorities that approve their export product business and business registration certificates issued by the administration for industry and commerce.

2. Declaration and Acceptance of Tax Refund Registration After receiving the "Export Enterprise Tax Refund Registration Form", the enterprise shall fill in the registration form and relevant requirements, affix the official seal of the enterprise and the seal of relevant personnel, together with the approval document for the right to operate the export product, and the industrial and commercial registration certificate. After the supporting documents are submitted to the tax authority, the tax authority will accept the registration after it has been checked and verified.

3. Fill in and issue the export tax refund registration certificate. The tax authority received the official application from the enterprise, and after reviewing it without error and approving according to the prescribed procedures, it issued the export tax refund registration to the enterprise.

4. Change or cancellation of export tax refund registration When the business status of the enterprise changes or certain tax refund policies change, the tax refund registration should be changed or cancelled according to actual needs. 2. Materials attached to export tax rebate

1. Customs declaration. A customs declaration form is a document filled by the import and export enterprise to the customs when the goods are imported or exported, so that the customs can complete the inspection and release based on this.

2. Export sales invoice. This is the document filled out by the export company according to the sales contract signed with the export purchaser. It is the main voucher for foreign purchases. It is also the basis for the export company's accounting department to use this account as a basis for sales revenue of export products.

3. Incoming invoice. The purchase invoice is provided mainly to determine the supply unit, product name, measurement unit, quantity of the exported product, and whether it is the sales price of the manufacturing enterprise, so as to divide and calculate the purchase cost.

4. Settlement of water bills or receipt of foreign exchange receipts.

5. If the product is directly exported or commissioned by a manufacturing enterprise to make self-made products, and where the CIF is settled, the export cargo waybill and export insurance policy shall also be attached.

6. Enterprises with import processing and re-export products business should also report to the tax authority the contract number, date, name and number of imported materials and parts, the name of the re-export product, the amount of re-export costs, and various taxes. Amount, etc.

7. Product tax certification.

8. The export receipts have been written off.

9. Other materials related to export tax rebates.

   Under what circumstances can I apply for export tax refund?

I. Scope of export tax rebate For products exported by China, all products that have been levied or levied with product tax, value added tax and special consumption tax shall not be refunded or exempted from tax unless the state clearly stipulates. Export products should generally have the following three conditions:

1. Products must be within the scope of product tax, value added tax and special excise tax.

2. Must declare for departure. The so-called exit is the output gateway. This is one of the main criteria for distinguishing whether a product is a tax-refundable export product. The export declaration form stamped with the customs seal and the export sales invoice shall prevail.

3. Export sales must be made financially. Generally speaking, export products will only be refunded if they meet the above three conditions. However, the state has also made special provisions for tax-refunded products, allowing certain products to be regarded as export products for tax refund. The products that are allowed to be refunded mainly include: Products sold by ocean liner supply companies to ocean liners, ocean liners and seafarers;

   2. Parts and raw materials used in external repair and repair operations.

   3 3. The foreign contract engineering company purchases the machinery and equipment and raw materials produced by domestic enterprises, which are used exclusively for foreign contract projects, and after shipping abroad, handles the tax refund with the purchase invoices and customs declaration issued by the contractor; Mechanical and electrical products that have won international bids and won domestic bids. The state also clearly stipulates that a few export products will not be refunded even if they meet the above three conditions; Exported crude oil; 2. Foreign aid export products; 3. Products prohibited by the state for export; 4. The export enterprise purchases the products of foreign investment for export; 5. Export products processed with supplied materials and assembled with supplied materials; 6. Export products sold by the quartermaster to the military system; 7. Enterprise scope of military industry export; 9. Exporting or selling diamonds processed by domestic or imported raw diamonds to diamond processing enterprises for export to foreign trade enterprises; 10. Products produced by Qilu, Yangzi and Daqing ethylene projects; Products without tax; 11. There is no tax refund for goods purchased by individuals in the country and brought out of the country. 2. Which enterprises can export tax rebates? 1. Central and local foreign trade enterprises, industry and trade companies, and some industrial production enterprises that have the right to operate foreign trade exports and undertake the task of earning foreign currency from the country's exports, have been approved by the competent economic and trade authorities, and enjoy independent independent export operation rights. 2. Enterprises entrusted to export mainly refer to enterprises that have the right to operate export as export agents and bear export profits and losses. Calculation methods for export tax rebates for general trade exports At present, export tax rebates for foreign-invested enterprises include "first levy before rebate" and "exemption, credit, and refund". "First levy back" means that the goods exported by the production enterprise on its own or entrusted by the agent are all levied at the tax rate stipulated in the temporary value-added tax regulations, and then the tax authority in charge of export tax rebate business shall Approval of tax refunds at prescribed tax refund rates.

Notice of the State Administration of Taxation on Certain Issues Concerning Tax Rebates for Foreign Investors of Foreign-invested Enterprises ^[5]

The general term for tax authorities to register, review, withdraw, and supervise the entire process of returning the collected taxes according to law. Is part of tax management.

In the practice of taxation in countries around the world, tax refunds often occur due to reasons such as excessive collection, miscollection or national policy needs in the collection and management work. In China, there are tax refunds for export products, tax refunds for sales, tax refunds that are levied by mistake, and tax refunds approved for special cases. As tax refunds may affect national fiscal revenue, corresponding measures need to be taken to strengthen supervision and management.

The main contents of China's tax refund management include:

Tax Refund Department

Basic introduction of "exemption, credit, refund" tax policy for export goods

I. Basic content of "Exemption, Credit, Refund"

The "exempt" tax for the implementation of the "exemption, credit, and refund" tax management measures refers to the exemption of value-added tax on the production and sales links of self-produced goods exported by manufacturing enterprises; The input tax refundable for raw materials, parts and components consumed by self-produced goods is offset by the tax payable for domestically sold goods; the "refund" tax refers to the input tax that is due to the self-produced goods exported by the production enterprise during the current period Taxes that are greater than the taxable amount but have not reached the top end will be refunded after approval by the competent tax refund authority.

2. Scope of Implementation of the Administrative Measures for "Exemptions, Credits and Rebates"

(1) For self-produced goods exported by a production enterprise or entrusted by a foreign trade enterprise to export on its behalf (hereinafter referred to as a production enterprise's export), unless otherwise stipulated, value-added tax shall be implemented in accordance with the "exemption, credit, and refund" tax management measures.

Production enterprises refer to enterprises and enterprise groups that have independent accounting, implement financial accounting systems for production enterprises, and are recognized as general VAT taxpayers by the competent state tax authorities and have actual production capacity.

Self-produced goods refer to goods that have been processed and produced by raw and auxiliary materials purchased by the manufacturing enterprise.

The following export goods can be treated as self-produced goods for "exemption, credit, refund":

1 . Purchasing goods with the same name and performance as the goods produced by the enterprise, using the registered trademark of the enterprise or a trademark provided to the enterprise by a foreign businessman, and exporting to foreign companies importing the company's own products;

2. Purchasing goods that are exported with the goods produced by the enterprise.

If a product exported by a manufacturing enterprise and exported with the products produced by the enterprise is exported to a foreign company that imports its own products, if it meets one of the following conditions, it shall be regarded as a self-produced tax refund.

(1) Tools, parts and accessories used for repairing self-produced products exported by the company;

(2) Without being processed or assembled by the enterprise, after exporting, it can be directly combined with self-produced products of the enterprise to form a complete set of products.

3 Purchasing products produced by a member company (or branch factory) of a group company (or head office) recognized by the tax authority in charge of export tax rebates, who meet the following conditions can be identified as a group member, and the group company can purchase products produced by member companies. The tax refund will be applied as if it were produced in-house.

(1) An enterprise approved by the competent department of the people's government at or above the county level to be a member of a group company, or a production company controlled by a group company;

(2) Both the group company and its member companies implement the financial accounting system for production enterprises;

(3) The group company must submit the certification materials of the member enterprises to the tax authority in charge of export tax rebate.

4. Entrust processing to produce the recovered goods.

Products that are entrusted to be processed for export by a manufacturing enterprise and meet the following conditions at the same time can be treated as self-produced goods for tax refund.

(1) It must have the same name and performance as the products produced by the enterprise, or the products recovered by the deep processing of the products produced by the enterprise;

(2) Export to foreign companies that import their own products;

(3) The client implements the financial accounting system of the production enterprise;

(4) The entrusting party must sign the entrusted processing agreement with the entrusting party. The main raw materials must be provided by the client. The trustee does not advance funds, only collects processing fees, and issues special VAT invoices for processing fees.

(2) VAT exemption will continue to be implemented for small-scale value-added taxpayers' export of self-produced goods.

(3) Exemption of consumption tax shall be implemented for products that are self-produced by manufacturers and are subject to consumption tax.

Third, the determination of the production company's export sales entry time, sales revenue and FOB price

(1) Regardless of the sea, land, air, or postal export of the goods exported by the manufacturing enterprise, the export sales account shall be registered according to the accounting time stipulated by the financial system as the realization time of the sales revenue of export goods.

(2) The exemption and refund tax for export goods of manufacturing enterprises shall be calculated based on the FOB export goods and the tax refund rate for export goods. The FOB value of the export goods is based on the FOB value of the export invoice (requires that the transaction method, quantity and amount of the export invoice are consistent with the export declaration form); if the transaction is made on other price conditions, it shall be determined in principle by the customs Calculate FOB export sales income. For export enterprises with sound financial and standardized accounting, if they really need to pay foreign freight, insurance premiums and commissions according to the actual amount, they can apply for it, and it can only be implemented after they have been approved by the export tax refund management department, but they must be accompanied by the corresponding Copies of the vouchers, where it is not possible or untrue, will be based on the FOB refund stated on the customs declaration form in the future.

(3) Regardless of the foreign currency in which the export goods are settled, they will be converted into RMB and registered in the relevant accounts at the exchange rate prescribed by the state; the production enterprise may use the exchange rate on the 1st of the month or the exchange rate as the accounting exchange rate (generally the middle price). It shall be reported to the local competent taxation authority for record, and shall not be adjusted within one liquidation year. ^[6]

Since 2008, China s export growth has slowed down due to weakening international market demand, appreciation of the RMB, rising raw material prices and labor costs. In the past 9 months, 8 months of export growth was lower than the previous Year on year. Profits of exporting companies have decreased significantly. In particular, some labor-intensive small and medium-sized enterprises have a large labor force and a wide range of employment, but their ability to resist risks is weak, and their operations are under great pressure.

With the continuous expansion of the impact of the US financial crisis, the consumer confidence index of developed countries has fallen sharply, and the decline in import demand will inevitably have an adverse impact on China's exports. If no measures are taken, it is expected that exports will decline in the future, and the difficulties for exporting companies will further increase, which will adversely affect China's overall economic development. Therefore, it is necessary to help enterprises to build confidence and tide over difficulties through appropriate adjustments in fiscal policies to prevent a passive situation that affects China's economic development due to a sharp decline in exports.

The adjustment of export tax rebates mainly includes two aspects: First, appropriately increase the export tax rebate rate of labor-intensive commodities such as textiles, clothing, and toys. The second is to increase the export tax rebate rate for high-tech and high value-added products such as anti-AIDS drugs. After this adjustment, the export tax rebate rate is six levels of 5%, 9%, 11%, 13%, 14% and 17%.

The adjustment of export tax rebates is a policy measure based on expanding domestic demand, improving the export competitiveness of enterprises, and supporting enterprises to expand exports, and has a positive role in promoting the development of the entire national economy. Increasing the export tax rebate rate of labor-intensive products can enhance the ability of enterprises to resist market risks, support the healthy development of small and medium-sized enterprises to overcome business difficulties, and help further promote the employment of urban and rural labor; increase the export tax rebate rate of high-tech and high value-added products Conducive to guiding enterprises to optimize the structure of export products. The specific laws are as follows:

"Notice on Increasing the Export VAT Rebate Rate of Labor-intensive Products and Other Goods"

Ministry of Finance, State Administration of Taxation, Finance and Taxation [2008] No. 144

Provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the Central Government, cities with separate plans, the State Administration of Taxation, and the Finance Bureau of Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps:

With the approval of the State Council, it was decided to increase the VAT export tax rebate rate for some commodities (hereinafter referred to as the tax rebate rate). The relevant matters are notified as follows:

Range of goods to increase tax refund rate

(1) Increase the tax rebate rate for some rubber products and forest products from 5% to 9%.

(2) Increase the tax rebate rate for some molds and glassware from 5% to 11%.

(3) Increase the tax refund rate for some aquatic products from 5% to 13%.

(4) Increase the tax refund rate for luggage, shoes, hats, umbrellas, furniture, bedding, lamps, clocks and other goods from 11% to 13%.

(5) Increase the tax rebate rate of some chemical products, stone materials, non-ferrous metal processed materials and other commodities from 5%, 9% to 11%, 13%.

(6) Increase the tax rebate rate of some mechanical and electrical products from 9% to 11%, 11% to 13%, and 13% to 14%.

The specific product names, tax numbers and tax refund rates for increasing the tax refund rate mentioned above are shown in the annex.

execution time

The adjustment of the tax refund rate stipulated in this notice will be implemented from December 1, 2008. The specific execution time is subject to the export date specified by the Customs of "Export Goods Declaration Form (Exclusive for Export Tax Refund)".

Refund of over-levied tariffs and import value-added tax

In accordance with the state's foreign trade management regulations, the consignee or consignor of the import and export goods or their agent has the obligation to pay taxes, and shall pay the tax payable for the import and export goods to the designated bank based on the Tax Payment Certificate issued by the customs.

Tax refund basis

Customs Law of the People's Republic of China

Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Import and Export Tariffs

Tax Refund Agency

Shanghai Customs Port Customs

Customs of Shanghai Customs

Tax refund provision

If the consignee or consignor of the import or export goods or their agent fails to pay the tax within the prescribed time limit, they shall pay a late fee of 1 of the outstanding tax (the starting point of the late fee is RMB 10). If the tax liability has not been fulfilled within three months, the customs shall accept the following coercive measures:

(1) The customs informs its bank in writing or other financial institutions to withhold taxes from its deposits;

(2) Customs sells taxable goods according to law, and uses the proceeds from the sale to pay the tax;

(3) Customs detains and sells goods or other property whose value is equivalent to the tax payable in accordance with law, and uses the proceeds from the sale to offset the tax.

Tax refund obligation

The Customs of the place where the tax is levied fills in a six-item "Tax Payment Certificate", of which one to five are stamped with the "Special Seal of the People's Republic of China xx Customs Documents" and paid to the payment unit.

The main contents of the "Tax Payment Certificate" are: billing year, date of payment, number of payment book, name of the paying unit, bank account and account number, budget account number, budget level, product name, tax code number, tax rate, and tax payment Price, tax amount, tax payment certificate number, payment period, seal of the person who completed and checked.

Tax refund procedure

Step 1: The customs at the place of taxation issues a Tax Payment Certificate to the consignor or consignor of the import or export goods or its agent.

Step 2: The consignee or consignor of the imported or exported goods or their agent shall hold the Tax Payment Certificate to the designated bank within 15 days from the date when the customs pays the tax payment certificate (except Saturday, Sunday and statutory holidays). Paying Taxes. ^[7]