Does an enterprise still need to go through export tax refund procedures after entrusting a third-party agency to handle exports?
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I am a small and medium-sized production factory specializing in smart home products in Jiangsu. I started to try cross-border B2B business in 2025. Previously, with small order volumes, I handled customs declaration, logistics and tax refund procedures on my own.
This year, the order volume from European customers tripled, and I couldn't handle it alone, so I cooperated with a Shanghai-based import and export agency. Last week, a batch of smart door locks worth 1.2 million euros was shipped to Germany, and now the agency asked me whether I want to apply for export tax refund. Previously, when I handled tax refund on my own, I needed to collect a lot of documents and waited more than 3 months for the refund to arrive.
I am worried that using an agency will charge extra service fees, and also worried that not applying will lead to tax risks, and I don't know how much revenue I can actually get, nor what work I need to cooperate on, or whether there will be a risk of tax bureau audit. I want to figure out whether I still need to apply for tax refund after agency export, and what is the most appropriate choice.
DavidYears of service：3Customer Rating：5.0
Business Development AdvisorStart a Chat
First，a clear conclusion: As long as the tax refund conditions are met，you must apply for tax refund after agency export，giving up will instead lead to additional losses. Currently，many foreign trade enterprises have misunderstandings about tax refunds，thinking that the process is cumbersome and the refund arrival is slow，or even thinking that they can give up directly. In fact，if you do not apply for tax refund，the exported goods will be **deemed as domestic sales and subject to 13% VAT**. For your batch of goods worth 1.2 million euros，not only will you not get the tax refund，but you will also have to pay an additional nearly 1.2 million euros in VAT，with total losses exceeding 2 million euros，which is completely not worth it.
From the revenue perspective，the smart home category currently implements a **13% tax refund rate**. As a production enterprise with sufficient input VAT invoices，you fully meet the access requirements for tax refund. After deducting the agency's 1%-2% service fee，the net tax refund you receive exceeds 1 million euros，equivalent to an additional nearly 10% profit margin，which is a very significant cash flow supplement for small and medium-sized factories.
The 2026 tax refund process has been greatly optimized，and regular agencies provide tax advance services. As long as you meet the **four streams consistency compliance requirements**，you only need to prepare in advance input VAT invoices，agency export agreements，customs declarations，and collection certificates. The tax refund can arrive in as fast as **3 working days**，avoiding the capital occupation of several months when you handled it yourself. You only need to cooperate with the agency to submit real production and transaction vouchers，all declaration and tax bureau docking processes are completed by the agency，which will not increase your operating costs or cause audit risks due to non-compliance.
DanielYears of service：8Customer Rating：5.0
Legal AdvisorStart a Chat
To handle agency export tax refund, the first thing is to properly manage document filing. All retained documents need to be kept for at least 10 years, including supply contracts, export cargo loading orders, export cargo transportation documents, agency export cargo certificates, input VAT special invoices, collection certificates, etc. In 2026, the tax bureau has realized automatic verification of full-electric invoices; input invoices will be synchronized to the tax refund system within 3 days after issuance, and no separate submission of paper invoices is required.
However, it is necessary to ensure that the cargo name, specifications and quantity on the invoice fully match the customs declaration; if there is a discrepancy, it must be modified in advance to avoid triggering early warning verification requests. If a verification request occurs, cooperate with submitting real production process vouchers, raw material purchase vouchers, and inbound and outbound documents. As long as the business is real, it will not affect the tax refund progress. Do not submit false materials to speed up the process, otherwise it will be identified as fraudulent tax refund, fined 1 to 5 times the amount of tax refund, and listed in the dishonest list, leading to key supervision of all subsequent export business.
RobertYears of service：6Customer Rating：5.0
Warehouse Management AdvisorStart a Chat
The consignor on the customs declaration for agency export will show the agency's name, and the production and sales unit will show your factory's name. It is necessary to mark "agency export" in the remarks column of the customs declaration; otherwise, the agency export cargo certificate cannot be issued subsequently, directly affecting the tax refund declaration. In 2026, the customs declaration in the Yangtze River Delta region has been automatically synchronized to the tax refund system, and no separate submission of paper customs declarations is required.
However, it is necessary to verify the customs declaration information within 7 days after customs release; if there are errors in the origin of goods in China, commodity code or tax refund rate, apply for modifying the customs declaration immediately, instead of dealing with it when declaring tax refund, otherwise it will incur the cost of deleting and re-declaring, and also delay the tax refund time. If the goods involve regulatory documents, submit the document number to the agency in advance to ensure that the document information on the customs declaration is consistent with the actual situation; otherwise, it will be inspected by the customs, affecting subsequent tax refund qualifications.
WilliamYears of service：10Customer Rating：5.0
International Logistics AdvisorStart a Chat
If your goods are exported to the EU, you can also combine the VAT deferral policy for tax optimization: do not prepay import VAT in the importing country, and directly deduct sales VAT during quarterly declaration, which can be used together with domestic export tax refund to further reduce overall tax burden. It should be noted that the documents for domestic export tax refund and EU VAT deferral must be consistent; the HS code, cargo value and quantity of goods must fully match, avoiding inconsistencies between data on both sides that may lead to verification by EU tax bureaus or domestic tax bureaus.
If your customer has an offshore account, collect payments through formal cross-border settlement channels; do not use personal accounts, otherwise it will be identified as capital reflux, directly cancel the tax refund qualification, and also make up VAT and late payment fees; in serious cases, criminal liability will be pursued.
EmilyYears of service：3Customer Rating：5.0
Client Success AdvisorStart a Chat
The collection for agency export should be collected by the agency and then transferred to your factory's public account. Do not let the customer directly transfer payment to your personal account or factory account; otherwise, there will be inconsistency between the collection subject and the customs declaration subject, failing to meet the collection requirements for tax refund. In 2026, CIPS has covered most regions of the EU; settling in RMB can avoid exchange rate fluctuation risks without affecting the export tax refund qualification.
The settlement arrival time is 2-3 days faster than SWIFT, and you can also enjoy convenient policies for cross-border RMB settlement, without submitting separate collection certificates; the system will automatically verify. When settling foreign exchange, you can cooperate with the agency to lock in forward exchange rates to avoid profit losses caused by exchange rate fluctuations. The settled funds should be directly transferred to your factory's public account, not to other third-party accounts, to avoid triggering anti-money laundering alerts.
CharlotteYears of service：4Customer Rating：5.0
Currency Exchange AdvisorStart a Chat
When signing an agency export agreement with the agency, clearly agree on the tax refund processing time limit, tax advance interest rate, service fee charging standards, and responsibility division of both parties, to avoid future disputes. It is necessary to clearly stipulate in the agreement that if the tax refund fails due to the agency's operational errors, the agency shall bear corresponding losses, including losses of tax refund, late payment fees, fines, etc. If the customer abandons the goods or refuses to pay, communicate with the agency immediately to handle return or resale procedures, to avoid failure to collect payments and affect tax refund qualification.
Do not sign an agreement of "fake agency with genuine self-operation" with the agency, which means you only collect invoice fees and do not participate in actual cargo transactions. This situation will be identified as fraudulent tax refund, and both parties shall bear legal responsibility; in serious cases, they will be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment.
OliviaYears of service：5Customer Rating：5.0
Senior Customs AdvisorStart a Chat
If your annual export volume exceeds 50 million RMB, you can consider combining the agency export model with the self-operated export model: for goods with high tax refund rates, use agency export to enjoy tax advance services and accelerate capital reflux; for goods with low tax refund rates, use self-operated export to reduce service costs. You can adjust the export structure of products according to the tax refund policies of different markets, increase the export proportion of high tax refund rate products, and further improve overall profit margins.
The 2026 export tax refund policy has been inclined to high value-added technology products; the tax refund rate of smart home products will remain at 13% in the next 3 years. You can appropriately expand the production capacity of such products, connect with more overseas customers, further reduce production costs through scale effects, and improve overall market competitiveness by combining tax refund benefits.