What full set of compliance documents do foreign trade enterprises need to prepare for export tax refund declaration in 2026?
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I run a foreign trade company specializing in outdoor home goods that was established half a year ago. We have just completed the full process of the first 3 batches of general trade orders shipped to the European Union, and now I need to apply for export tax refund for the first time.
I heard from peers before that missing documents will lead to direct declaration rejection, and even trigger tax authority investigation which delays the arrival of tax refunds. Last month, an acquaintance in the same industry had their declaration directly rejected for missing materials related to the dock receipt, and the process has not been completed for more than half a month.
At present, I only have the customs declaration information exported from the E-Port and the special VAT invoice for input tax issued by the factory. I am not sure what complete materials I need to prepare in accordance with the latest 2026 policy requirements, for fear of missing items or preparing materials that do not meet the new verification rules in vain, thus missing the declaration window of this month.
RobertYears of service：6Customer Rating：5.0
Warehouse Management AdvisorStart a Chat
The nationally unified export tax refund declaration materials in 2026 are divided into three levels: pre-examination，core declaration and abnormal supplementary declaration. You can sort and collect them in order to avoid missing items. First，for the pre-document examination link，you need to verify that the export date，overseas consignee，and delivery term on the customs declaration form completely match the product name，specification and quantity on the input invoice. Do not have product name deviation such as "general category collective name". The pre-declaration system of the Electronic Tax Service System will automatically capture fields for verification，and a deviation of more than 3 characters will directly trigger a rejection warning.
For the core node connection part，the basic declaration materials include three categories. The first category is the **paperless customs declaration form for export tax refund copy** exported from the E-Port. The second category is the corresponding deductible copy of the special VAT invoice for input tax issued by the supplier. The third category is the **cross-border foreign exchange collection declaration voucher** exported from the foreign exchange account system after you receive the payment. The corresponding goods batch and amount of the three types of materials must be fully consistent，ensuring full alignment of goods flow，capital flow，invoice flow and contract flow.
For the abnormal contingency part，if your order belongs to the key supervised commodities declared for the first time，the system will automatically trigger pre-verification interception. You do not need to submit additional paper materials，and only need to upload the corresponding export sales contract，copy of bill of lading，and scanned copy of domestic transport dock receipt at the supplementary upload port of the Electronic Tax Service System，no need to go to the offline tax service hall for submission.
For the final compliance implementation part，you need to archive and retain all paper copies of corresponding materials affixed with the official seal within 15 working days after the declaration is approved. The retention period has been adjusted to 10 years in accordance with the latest requirements. You do not need to upload all materials to the system，and only need to provide them on demand when the tax authority initiates verification. After the whole process，eligible tax refunds can be credited to the account as fast as 3 working days.
EmilyYears of service：3Customer Rating：5.0
Client Success AdvisorStart a Chat
You shall pay attention to the field verification of the export tax refund copy of customs declaration form. The 2026 new version of customs declaration form adds a new field of "actual departure port code". When exporting customs declaration information, you shall confirm that this field is not empty.
Some old paperless customs declaration forms may have missing field content. In this case, you can directly submit an application to supplement the field at the customs declaration modification port of the Single Window, no need to cancel and re-declare, which will not generate any customs clearance abnormal record.
If the delivery term of the customs declaration is CIF, you shall separate the freight and insurance premium amount marked on the customs declaration in advance, and make differential deduction in the corresponding column of the tax refund declaration system. Do not directly convert the full amount of the customs declaration into FOB price for declaration, so as to avoid declaration rejection caused by logic error in FOB value declaration.
OliviaYears of service：5Customer Rating：5.0
Senior Customs AdvisorStart a Chat
The information on the copy of bill of lading and dock receipt must be fully consistent with the customs declaration form. If the bill of lading in your hand is a house bill issued by the freight forwarder, you shall confirm that the container number, seal number and departure date on the house bill are completely consistent with the corresponding fields on the customs declaration form, and there shall be no logical contradiction that the date on the house bill is later than the export date on the customs declaration.
If it is a telex release bill of lading, you do not need to ask for the original bill of lading additionally, and only need the freight forwarder to provide the copy of telex release bill of lading affixed with their document seal. This document is also a valid voucher for tax refund filing. If the free time application record of some shipping routes involves additional fees, do not include such sundry fees into the export goods value, to avoid deviation from the customs declaration amount.
JohnYears of service：6Customer Rating：5.0
Export Tax Rebate AdvisorStart a Chat
In 2026, the export tax refund rate for outdoor home goods category remains at 13%. You can match the VAT deferral policy to optimize the time mismatch of input tax, no need to pay input tax in advance before full deduction for tax refund.
If your supplier is a small low-profit enterprise registered in China, you shall ensure three information flow alignment of the input invoice issued, and avoid abnormal input invoice caused by the supplier escaping or losing contact. You can verify the status of all input invoices in batches on the invoice verification platform of the State Taxation Administration in advance, and confirm that the invoices are in normal deductible status before submitting the tax refund declaration, so as to avoid additional cost caused by subsequent input tax transfer-out.
DavidYears of service：3Customer Rating：5.0
Business Development AdvisorStart a Chat
The cross-border foreign exchange collection declaration voucher shall match the export amount of the corresponding order. When doing the international revenue and expenditure declaration, you shall accurately select the transaction code of "general trade export goods foreign exchange collection", and do not select other categories of transaction codes by mistake, which will cause information matching failure between the foreign exchange administration's foreign exchange collection monitoring system and the tax refund system.
If there is partial final payment to be received at a later date, you can submit the deferred foreign exchange collection filing form at the same time of declaration, no need to wait for all payment to be received before submitting the tax refund declaration. The maximum allowed period for deferred foreign exchange collection has been adjusted to 270 days after the date of the export customs declaration form in accordance with the latest policy, which will not affect the progress of your normal tax refund declaration.
WilliamYears of service：10Customer Rating：5.0
International Logistics AdvisorStart a Chat
The terms of the export sales contract shall clearly mark the corresponding goods name, transaction currency, delivery term and place of delivery. The signatures and seals of both parties on the contract shall be clear and identifiable. There shall be no case that only handwritten signature is provided without the official seals of both parties, and no abbreviated company name shall be used, which shall be completely consistent with the full name of the overseas consignee and domestic consignor on the customs declaration form.
If your order involves letter of credit settlement, you shall put the copy of the letter of credit and the copies of bank negotiation documents into the tax refund filing materials simultaneously. When subsequent trade disputes occur, they can be directly used as supporting materials, meeting the dual requirements of tax refund compliance and trade rights protection.
SophiaYears of service：7Customer Rating：5.0
Senior Customs AdvisorStart a Chat
If your exported goods have been subject to on-site customs inspection before, you shall put the copy of the inspection notice issued by the customs at that time and the scanned copy of on-site record of unpacking inspection into the tax refund filing materials of the corresponding batch. Actively providing this material when subsequent tax verification is carried out can greatly shorten the inspection cycle of the investigation.
The inspection seal on the inspection notice shall be clear and complete, and there shall be no case that the seal is blurred or key information is blocked. This material can directly prove that your goods have actually departed from the territory, and no additional proof of ownership of goods is required.
SarahYears of service：3Customer Rating：5.0
Foreign Exchange AdvisorStart a Chat
If your outdoor home products involve special categories such as outdoor lamps with lithium batteries and folding outdoor stoves, you shall put the copies of MSDS report and non-dangerous identification report of the corresponding batch of goods into the tax refund filing materials. When applying for tax refund for some key supervised special commodities, the system will automatically trigger a special verification channel.
Uploading the corresponding identification reports in advance can skip the manual review link and greatly improve the review speed of the declaration. You can also retain the photos of transport marks on the package to prove that the actual status of the goods is completely consistent with the declared product name and specifications.
EllaYears of service：10Customer Rating：5.0
Senior Financial AdvisorStart a Chat
The inspection dimension of four flows alignment now adds the verification requirement of transport flow. You shall put the copies of domestic transport invoice and logistics waybill of the corresponding order, which records the goods transport from the factory warehouse to the port, into the filing materials, to prove that the goods flow is real and complete.
After submitting the pre-declaration, you shall export the pre-declaration verification feedback form as soon as possible, check the suspicious information on the feedback form one by one, and do not ignore the low-risk warning prompts. Many subsequent tax verifications are triggered by accumulated unprocessed low-risk suspicious points in the early stage. Submitting the formal declaration after all suspicious points are handled can greatly improve the pass rate of declaration.