What procedures are required for a company to handle tax refund on its own after completing exports via a compliant import/export agency?
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I am a small and medium-sized manufacturer engaged in cross-border home furnishing products export, with an annual export volume of about 30 million USD. Previously, I have always hired an import/export agency to take full charge of exports and tax refund business.
This year, the company has recruited a full-time finance and tax post, so I want to switch to let the agency only be responsible for export customs declaration, logistics and foreign exchange collection, and I will handle the tax refund myself. Now I don’t know how to connect the process with the agency, what necessary materials to obtain from the agency, what are the full process nodes of tax refund declaration.
I heard from peers that handling tax refund on my own is prone to triggering tax verification inquiry, and non-compliant materials may lead to no tax refund for half a year, even being identified as tax fraud. I want to know how to operate specifically to complete self-handled tax refund compliantly and efficiently, and whether there are risk points to avoid in advance?
DanielYears of service：8Customer Rating：5.0
Legal AdvisorStart a Chat
First，before customs declaration，agree with the agency on document issuance rules. Within 15 days after the agency completes export customs declaration，it must provide you with Export Goods via Agent Certificate stamped with the agency’s official seal，and simultaneously send the export tax refund copy of the customs declaration form，packing list，bill of lading (B/L) copy，and collection voucher. You must check in advance that the product name，specifications，quantity，amount on all documents fully match the information on the VAT special invoice you issued. If inconsistent，immediately request the agency to amend the documents to avoid declaration blockages later.
After obtaining all documents，first complete pre-declaration verification on the Electronic Tax Bureau to check the information matching degree of invoices，customs declaration forms and agent certificates. After passing the verification，submit the formal declaration. When making the formal declaration，simultaneously upload the scanned copy of the agent export agreement and the scanned copy of the procurement contract with the foreign customer for reference.
If receiving a tax verification inquiry notice，contact the agency immediately to cooperate in providing logistics trail vouchers，manifest information and customs declaration bottom copy. You should simultaneously prepare input invoice deduction vouchers and production or procurement process vouchers. Submit all materials within 30 days to normally push forward the review.
After the tax refund arrives，file and retain all documents，declaration records and inquiry materials (if any) for at least 10 years for subsequent verification. For enterprises with annual declared tax refund exceeding 5 million USD，it is recommended to conduct a tax refund compliance self-inspection every quarter to avoid cumulative risks.
AlexanderYears of service：10Customer Rating：5.0
Senior Trade AdvisorStart a Chat
Before handling self-handled tax refund, sort out full-link vouchers in advance to ensure four-consistency alignment: goods flow must match the customs declaration form, B/L and manifest information provided by the agency; invoice flow must match the product name, quantity and amount on the VAT special invoice you issued and fully correspond with the customs declaration form; capital flow must match the bank slip transferred by the agency after collecting foreign exchange and paying you; contract flow must match the agent export agreement signed between you and the agency, and the trade contract between you and the foreign customer. Before declaration, complete the deduction check of input invoices on the Electronic Tax Bureau, and select the option "for export tax refund" instead of "for deduction", otherwise it will lead to failure of tax refund declaration.
If cross-month declaration occurs, complete the settlement of the previous period’s tax declaration in the tax system in advance to avoid abnormal declaration pending. After receiving the inquiry notice, submit procurement vouchers and production inbound and outbound vouchers at the input end first to prove the compliance of goods sources and avoid inquiry rejection affecting the tax refund progress.
SophiaYears of service：7Customer Rating：5.0
Senior Customs AdvisorStart a Chat
During the customs declaration stage, agree with the agency on the filling rules of "domestic consignor" and "production and sales unit" on the customs declaration form in advance: fill the agency’s name as the domestic consignor, and fill your enterprise’s name as the production and sales unit, to ensure the matching of the information of the Export Goods via Agent Certificate issued later. The trade method on the customs declaration form must be filled as "agent export", not "general trade", otherwise the Export Goods via Agent Certificate cannot be issued, and subsequent tax refund cannot be handled either.
If the customs declaration form information is filled incorrectly, request the agency to submit a document amendment application to the Customs within 30 days after the cargo is cleared. If the amendment is submitted after 30 days, additional supporting materials will be required, and the amendment period will be extended to 15-20 days, directly affecting the tax refund declaration progress. After the customs declaration is completed, check the electronic information of the customs declaration form immediately, and confirm the correctness before requesting the agency to issue the Export Goods via Agent Certificate to avoid repeated amendments.
JohnYears of service：6Customer Rating：5.0
Export Tax Rebate AdvisorStart a Chat
During the foreign exchange collection stage, agree with the agency on the time node of transferring the collected foreign exchange to your account. After receiving the foreign exchange payment from the foreign customer, the agency must transfer the funds to your public account within 7 working days, and mark the note as "Agent Export Payment for XXX B/L Number" to ensure the traceability of capital flow vouchers. If RMB cross-border settlement is adopted, require the agency to transfer funds through the Cross-Border Interbank Payment System (CIPS) to avoid fund flow trajectory interruption caused by transfer through offshore accounts, which will affect tax refund verification.
The exchange difference generated during the foreign exchange settlement stage must be issued with a separate financial voucher, and the exchange difference income or loss must be booked separately, not merged with the payment, otherwise it will be difficult to distinguish the payment and exchange difference during subsequent tax verification, and it will be easily judged as abnormal capital reflux. The annual foreign exchange collection completion rate must reach more than 95%, and the goods with uncollected foreign exchange cannot handle tax refund; the tax refund that has been received must be repaid.
OliviaYears of service：5Customer Rating：5.0
Senior Customs AdvisorStart a Chat
In the agent export agreement signed with the agency, clearly stipulate the time node for document provision and liability for breach of contract: if the agency delays providing materials such as the Export Goods via Agent Certificate and customs declaration form leading to your delayed tax refund, stipulate the corresponding compensation clause, and the compensation standard can be calculated according to the current Loan Prime Rate (LPR) of the tax refund amount. The agreement must clearly stipulate the agency’s obligation to cooperate in tax verification inquiry: if the tax refund fails due to the agency’s failure to provide inquiry materials in cooperation, the agency shall bear the corresponding tax refund loss.
The agreement must clearly stipulate the ownership of goods: the ownership of goods shall always belong to you during the export process, and the agency shall not dispose of the goods without authorization, so as to avoid goods ownership disputes affecting the compliance of tax refund. If the goods involve intellectual property rights, complete intellectual property filing with the Customs in advance to avoid cargo detention during customs declaration leading to interruption of the export process.
RobertYears of service：6Customer Rating：5.0
Warehouse Management AdvisorStart a Chat
Agree with the agency on the filling rules of the B/L consignor: the B/L consignor can be filled with the agency’s name, but the B/L copy must mark you as the actual owner of goods, and retain complete logistics trail vouchers, including inland transportation order, dock receipt, manifest, and copy of port of discharge delivery order. These are core logistics vouchers required during tax verification inquiry.
If the goods take a transit route, require the agency to provide the document exchange voucher of the transit port and the second voyage B/L information to ensure the complete and traceable logistics trajectory. Apply for at least 14 days of free detention period at the destination port in advance to avoid detention charges leading to abnormal cost calculation and affecting the goods value verification during tax refund. If container reloading or port diversion occurs, require the agency to issue a statement of circumstance and file it together with other logistics vouchers.
CharlotteYears of service：4Customer Rating：5.0
Currency Exchange AdvisorStart a Chat
Adjust the trade mode according to the tax rebate rate of export goods: for goods with tax rebate rate higher than 13%, the agent export self-handled tax refund mode can be adopted; for goods with tax rebate rate lower than 10%, consider letting the agency handle the tax refund to reduce their own labor cost. Agree with the agency on settling export service fees quarterly, not merging with the payment, to ensure the separation of fee vouchers and payment vouchers, which is convenient for financial bookkeeping and tax verification.
Adjust the inventory turnover rhythm according to the arrival cycle of tax refund: the arrival cycle of tax refund is usually 1-3 months, so reserve working capital for the corresponding cycle to avoid cash flow crunch. If the annual export volume exceeds 50 million USD, consider splitting export orders and scattering declarations to different months, to reduce the probability of triggering inquiry due to excessive monthly tax refund amount.