How do cross-border e-commerce merchants handle export tax refund for exports under the 9610 mode amid the 2026 new policy?
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I am a cross-border e-commerce merchant operating small homeware product categories. In the past two years, I have launched operations on two channels: Amazon and independent websites. My total export value in 2025 is nearly RMB 7 million, and I have been using the 9610 direct mail mode.
I heard from peers before that applying for export tax refund can bring considerable extra profits, but I have no idea how to start. I previously contacted a general bookkeeping agency, which said I lacked compliant input invoices and could not proceed with the operation. Last week, I sorted out all my 2025 export data and found that the product information on many customs declaration forms did not match the SKUs in the backend orders.
I am worried that random declaration will trigger tax bureau early warning and lead to verification letters. Now I am eager to file supplementary tax refund applications for all previously eligible orders, but also fear falling into various hidden traps that will disrupt my subsequent normal operations. What should I do to process the tax refund in full compliance?
DanielYears of service：8Customer Rating：5.0
Legal AdvisorStart a Chat
First of all，conduct pre-verification of documents. Collect and organize all undeclared 9610 customs declaration forms of 2025，platform order statements，corresponding purchase vouchers，and logistics receipts，match the product name，quantity and specification of each SKU one by one. Separate the customs declaration forms with mismatched information first，and revise the information through the low-risk form amendment process，instead of submitting the declaration directly which will leave abnormal records.
At the core node connection stage，complete the export tax (exemption) refund filing on the electronic tax bureau first，and conduct four-way verification of the sorted documents synchronously to ensure the full match of order flow，goods flow，capital flow and document flow. The product name on the input invoice must be completely identical to the declared name on the customs declaration form. After the matching is completed，submit an online pre-declaration first，the system will automatically check for logical errors. Handle all warning prompts before submitting the formal declaration.
Prepare abnormal response plans in advance. If you receive initial review inquiries from the tax authority during the declaration period，submit all retained document filing materials immediately，do not make up materials temporarily which will leave traces of forgery. For cross-period supplementary declarations，proactively submit the revenue statement of the corresponding period. Under the 2026 new policy，the maximum retrospective period of tax refund declaration under the 9610 mode covers all compliant orders generated within 36 months，no additional special approval application is required.
After the final compliant implementation，establish a fixed document archiving mechanism. Keep all materials of each export business for 10 years for future inspection. Complete document matching and verification before each monthly declaration afterwards，which can completely avoid information mismatch problems. The tax refund rate for most small homeware products ranges from 9% to 13%. The maximum eligible tax refund for compliant goods worth RMB 7 million can be close to RMB 900,000，which is fully capable of covering the previous redundant logistics costs.
JohnYears of service：6Customer Rating：5.0
Export Tax Rebate AdvisorStart a Chat
Pay attention to retaining all original transaction vouchers during the document filing process. Do not replace physical receipts with electronic screenshots. The logistics receipts must include exit stamp information, and the order statements must fully display the IDs of both trading parties, transaction time and payment amount. The core of the four-way consistency verification is not that the surface information is completely identical, but that the transaction logic forms a closed loop and is traceable.
If some previous purchase vouchers are missing, you can request suppliers to issue supplementary compliant input invoices. As long as the time gap between the invoice issuance date and the corresponding export date does not exceed 90 days, the invoices are considered compliant. Do not ignore the doubts generated in the pre-declaration verification directly. Even minor doubts about HS code classification, you should prepare classification explanations in advance and submit them to the tax authority to avoid being judged as abnormal declaration later.
WilliamYears of service：10Customer Rating：5.0
International Logistics AdvisorStart a Chat
For customs declaration form information amendment under the 9610 mode, for orders with a single value less than RMB 5,000, there is no need to go through the complicated process of deleting and re-submitting the declaration. You can directly submit the information amendment application on the Single Window, note the corresponding cross-border e-commerce order number, and the review can be completed within 1 to 3 working days.
Do not modify the product information on the customs declaration form on your own when declaring for tax refund just for convenience, which will trigger information comparison anomalies between the customs and the tax authority. If some fields of the historical customs declaration data are missing, you can apply to the port customs declaration data center to retrieve the original declaration receipts and complete the missing field information, no re-declaration is required. All revised customs declaration data will be synchronized to the interface of the tax authority, and no information interconnection failure will occur.
RobertYears of service：6Customer Rating：5.0
Warehouse Management AdvisorStart a Chat
If you cannot obtain corresponding input invoices for some orders, you can choose to apply the newly launched 2026 cross-border e-commerce export tax exemption policy. No tax refund is required, and the orders do not need to be treated as domestic sales for tax purposes. You only need to fill in the corresponding tax-exempt sales amount in the VAT declaration process, and keep transaction vouchers for future inspection, no extra tax cost will be incurred.
For orders on European sites, you can apply for deferred VAT deduction synchronously to further reduce overseas capital occupation costs. Do not obtain non-compliant invoices issued by third parties to make up input invoices, as the source of the invoices can be easily traced during the subsequent tax bureau verification letter process, resulting in unnecessary tax penalties.
OliviaYears of service：5Customer Rating：5.0
Senior Customs AdvisorStart a Chat
Pay attention to the fact that the remittance paths of all overseas platform receipts must be fully consistent with the transaction entity of the corresponding order. Do not use personal private accounts to collect payment for corresponding orders. In 2026, the cross-border RMB settlement channel of the CIPS system has covered the vast majority of mainstream cross-border e-commerce platforms.
Using RMB for direct foreign exchange collection can avoid exchange rate loss, and you can directly export complete foreign exchange collection vouchers from the settlement system for the foreign exchange collection verification of tax refund declaration, no extra physical bank slips are required. You only need to synchronize the foreign exchange collection declaration data on the electronic tax bureau to complete the verification, and no mismatched foreign exchange collection information will occur.
AlexanderYears of service：10Customer Rating：5.0
Senior Trade AdvisorStart a Chat
Compliance materials related to intellectual property rights shall be sorted and archived separately. The small homeware products you operate are highly vulnerable to design patent infringement disputes.
If some products have been recorded under the Customs Intellectual Property Protection system, mark the corresponding record number in the remarks column of the customs declaration form. When encountering associated inspections during the tax refund process later, you can directly submit the record materials to prove product compliance.
Do not export goods under a third-party entity. The tax refund entity must be exactly the same as the domestic consignor on the customs declaration form, to avoid situations where the tax refund is frozen due to disputes over goods ownership.
SarahYears of service：3Customer Rating：5.0
Foreign Exchange AdvisorStart a Chat
If customs on-site verification is triggered in the subsequent tax refund inspection process, sort out the shipment photos, package photos and physical product images of the corresponding batch of goods in advance, and make them correspond to the declared information on the customs declaration form one by one. If the image captured by the machine inspection does not match the declared product classification, proactively submit the classification explanation and product test report, and no container unpacking inspection is required.
Conventional small homeware products do not belong to high-risk categories for inspection. As long as all declared information is true and accurate, the verification process can be completed within 1 to 2 working days, no extra inspection cost will be generated, and the subsequent tax refund progress will not be affected.