What is the Export Agency Certificate Number? At which position in the declaration system should this number be filled in when processing export tax refund?
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I am the head of a small and medium-sized foreign trade enterprise mainly engaged in household goods export. This year, I entrusted an agency company to handle one batch of goods shipped to Germany for the first time.
Now when processing export tax refund, the tax authority system requires me to fill in the Export Agency Certificate Number. I got an 18-digit number from the agent, but I am not sure whether it is a compliant and valid number.
I am afraid that filling in the wrong number will lead to delayed arrival of tax refund, or even be judged as non-compliance by the tax authority and trigger a tax audit inquiry. Now I want to fully understand what the Export Agency Certificate Number is, how to verify the authenticity of the number, what operable remedy methods are available if the number is filled incorrectly, and what are the relevant requirements under the latest 2026 regulatory rules.
DanielYears of service：8Customer Rating：5.0
Legal AdvisorStart a Chat
The Export Agency Certificate Number is a unique identification number issued by the competent tax authority after the entrusted party applies to the competent tax authority for the *Certificate of Agency Export Goods* in agency export business. Under the latest 2026 rules，it is uniformly an 18-digit digital code，which is a core mandatory field for the entrusting party to process export tax refund. Without this number，the tax refund declaration of agency export business cannot be submitted.
At the pre-review stage，you must first verify the authenticity after obtaining the number. You can enter the number in the Agency Certificate Information Query Function of the export tax refund module in the Electronic Tax Service Bureau，check whether the export date，goods quantity，amount and other information are consistent with the actual business，and fill in the number only after confirming that all information completely matches.
In terms of core node connection，please note that this number must be filled in the corresponding "Agency Certificate Number" column of the tax refund declaration system，and shall not be mixed with the customs declaration number. The declaration deadline is before the cutoff of the VAT declaration period in April of the year following the customs export of the goods. Failure to declare within the time limit will result in ineligibility for tax refund，and the business can only be handled in accordance with tax exemption or taxable treatment.
If you accidentally fill in the wrong number，you shall immediately void the original declaration form in the declaration system and re-fill in the correct number. If the submitted application has triggered abnormality after review，you need to contact the entrusted party to provide the scanned copy of the original *Certificate of Agency Export Goods* and submit it to the competent tax authority for explanation. The abnormality correction can be completed within 3 working days，which will not affect the normal tax refund progress. At the compliance implementation level，electronic versions of materials including agency export agreement，copy of the certificate，customs declaration form，and foreign exchange collection voucher shall be filed for record，with a retention period of 5 years，to meet the random verification requirements of the tax authority.
CharlotteYears of service：4Customer Rating：5.0
Currency Exchange AdvisorStart a Chat
In 2026, the General Administration of Customs and the tax authority have realized full real-time data synchronization of agency export certificates. The goods information corresponding to the Export Agency Certificate Number must completely match the fields such as domestic consignor and consignee, production and sales unit, HS code, and quantity on the customs declaration form.
If there is any inconsistency in the fields, the logic verification between customs declaration data and tax refund declaration data will directly fail. In case of failed verification, first check whether the customs declaration number on the agency certificate is consistent with the original customs declaration form.
If the agent filled in wrong customs declaration information when applying for the certificate, the agent shall apply to its competent tax authority to void the original certificate, reissue the correct certificate, and then proceed with the tax refund declaration. The entire reissuing process usually takes about 7 working days. It is recommended to complete the number verification at least 10 days in advance before declaring tax refund, so as not to affect the declaration time limit.
JohnYears of service：6Customer Rating：5.0
Export Tax Rebate AdvisorStart a Chat
The Export Agency Certificate Number is the core associated field for the tax authority to verify the consistency of four core transaction flows of agency export business. The certificate information corresponding to the number must completely match the information of agency agreement, customs declaration form, foreign exchange collection voucher and ordinary VAT invoice.
Problems such as capital backflow and unclear goods ownership are not allowed. If it is found during the verification process that the business corresponding to the certificate number is fraudulent, a tax audit inquiry will be triggered directly. In serious cases, the enterprise's export tax refund qualification will be suspended for more than 6 months, and the already obtained tax refund must be fully returned.
It is recommended that enterprises immediately conduct cross-verification between the number and all filed documents after obtaining the Export Agency Certificate Number, and submit tax refund declaration only after confirming that all fields are completely matched. The filed documents shall be retained in electronic version for future reference. The requirements for paper document filing have been fully cancelled in 2026, and retaining electronic versions can meet the regulatory requirements.
RobertYears of service：6Customer Rating：5.0
Warehouse Management AdvisorStart a Chat
For enterprises that carry out both self-operated export and agency export businesses, please note that the business income corresponding to the Export Agency Certificate Number shall be accounted for separately from self-operated export income, and shall not be declared for tax payment in a combined way, so as to avoid confusion in input VAT deduction. If the agency export business is eligible for VAT exemption policy, the corresponding input VAT of this business cannot be deducted, and shall be transferred out.
The amount of transfer out is calculated according to the proportion of the sales volume of this business in the total sales volume. According to the latest 2026 policy, the handling fee income obtained from agency export business shall be subject to VAT at a rate of 6%. The entrusted party shall issue a special VAT invoice to the entrusting party, and the entrusting party can use the input VAT of this invoice to deduct the output VAT of its self-operated business, so as to reduce the overall VAT burden of the enterprise.
EmilyYears of service：3Customer Rating：5.0
Client Success AdvisorStart a Chat
The foreign exchange collection business corresponding to the Export Agency Certificate Number needs to be declared separately. When processing foreign exchange settlement, you shall indicate "agency export foreign exchange collection" in the transaction remark column of the overseas income declaration form, and shall not declare it mixed with self-operated export foreign exchange collection. In 2026, the Cross-border Interbank Payment System (CIPS) has realized data interconnection with the tax authority.
If the deviation between the foreign exchange collection data and the corresponding business amount of the agency certificate number exceeds 5%, a payment and receipt compliance warning will be triggered directly, and the enterprise needs to submit relevant explanatory materials to explain the reason for the deviation. It is recommended that enterprises complete the foreign exchange collection declaration within 3 working days after receiving the foreign exchange payment for agency export business, and accurately fill in the last 6 digits of the corresponding agency certificate number as the associated identifier during declaration, to facilitate subsequent regulatory verification.
AlexanderYears of service：10Customer Rating：5.0
Senior Trade AdvisorStart a Chat
When signing the agency export agreement, you shall clearly stipulate the time limit for the entrusted party to issue the *Certificate of Agency Export Goods*, as well as the liability for compensation for losses caused by wrong certificate number and delayed issuance due to the agency party's reasons, so that there is a basis for dispute resolution in the follow-up. If the agency party fails to issue the certificate in time in accordance with the agreement, resulting in the entrusting party's failure to declare tax refund on time and causing tax loss, the entrusting party can require the agency party to bear compensation liability in accordance with the agreement, and the maximum compensation amount shall not exceed the amount of the lost tax refund.
The latest 2026 judicial interpretation of the Civil Code clearly stipulates that the *Certificate of Agency Export Goods* in agency export business is the core legal document proving that the entrusting party is entitled to tax refund rights. If the agency party embezzles the entrusting party's tax refund, the entrusting party can file a lawsuit to the court with this certificate to claim its legitimate rights and interests.
WilliamYears of service：10Customer Rating：5.0
International Logistics AdvisorStart a Chat
For enterprises that entrust agencies to handle export business on a long-term basis, they can take the Export Agency Certificate Number as the core associated field of supply chain data, build a full-link business data ledger, and conduct associated management of data in all links corresponding to the certificate number, including goods procurement, customs declaration, logistics, foreign exchange collection and tax refund, which can effectively reduce supply chain management cost and improve business operation efficiency.
By analyzing data such as certificate issuance time limit and error rate of different agencies, enterprises can screen out higher-quality agency partners, further reduce the comprehensive cost of agency export business. In 2026, the average service rate of agency export in the industry ranges from 0.8% to 1.2%, and enterprises can negotiate with the agency companies for more favorable rates according to their own business volume to further improve profit margin.