Export Tax Refund Q&A

What rules shall be followed for accurate calculation and confirmation of CIF price in export tax refund declaration?

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I am the tax filer of a small foreign trade clothing enterprise. Recently we received a batch of orders from European clients requiring export under CIF terms. We used to declare export tax refund at FOB price all the time.

After switching to CIF suddenly, I do not know how to deduct freight and insurance premium in a compliant way during declaration, whether wrong price filling will lead to tax refund rejection, and what additional supporting documents are required. I am afraid that mistakes will slow down the tax refund progress and disrupt cash flow, so I want to make clear the specific declaration procedures and points for attention.

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Expert Answer

Ella
EllaYears of service：10Customer Rating：5.0

Senior Financial AdvisorStart a Chat

First of all，pre-declaration document review shall focus on CIF-related vouchers: you need to collect ocean bill of lading (with detailed freight and insurance premium specified)，official invoice for international logistics，insurance policy issued by the insurance company，and electronic base ledger data of customs declaration form，to ensure the amounts of freight and insurance premium on the bill of lading are completely consistent with those on the invoice，and the transaction method on the customs declaration form is accurately filled in as CIF，so as to avoid triggering review alerts due to document inconsistencies.

Attention shall be paid to the connection of core nodes: CIF price shall be converted to FOB price during declaration，with the formula FOB = CIF price - freight - insurance premium. The converted FOB price shall match the free on board price on the special VAT invoice and export commercial invoice，so as to ensure the consistency of "goods flow，capital flow，invoice flow and contract flow"，which is the core mandatory requirement for 2026 tax refund review. It is strictly prohibited to directly take CIF price as the transaction price for tax refund declaration，otherwise the declaration will be rejected directly.

For abnormal contingency plans: if a price inconsistency prompt appears during pre-declaration for tax refund，check the documents immediately for errors. For example，if the freight invoice amount is inconsistent with that on the bill of lading，contact the logistics company to reissue the invoice. If conversion deviation is caused by exchange rate issues，use the central parity rate of the central bank on the first day of the declaration month for unified conversion，to prevent exchange rate fluctuations from affecting data accuracy. If there are sundry fees，confirm whether the sundry fees belong to items that need to be deducted from CIF price，to avoid over-deduction or under-deduction affecting the tax refund amount.

For final compliance implementation，complete document filing: keep materials such as sales contract under CIF terms，freight payment voucher，insurance premium payment voucher，customs declaration form，etc. The filing time limit is within 15 days after tax refund declaration，to ensure complete supporting materials can be provided during tax inspection，and prevent tax refund suspension or rejection due to missing documents. The detailed process of converting CIF price to FOB price shall be clearly marked on the filing form to facilitate inspection by tax authorities.

Olivia
OliviaYears of service：5Customer Rating：5.0

Senior Customs AdvisorStart a Chat

Focus on checking the transaction method column on the customs declaration form: if it is incorrectly filled as CIF instead of FOB, the price basis of tax refund declaration will be directly affected. You shall explicitly require the freight forwarder to separately specify the freight and insurance premium amount in the "sundry fees" column of the customs declaration form before customs declaration, so as to avoid doubts raised by customs price verification due to wrong transaction method filling.

In the 2026 customs integration system, wrong filling of transaction method will directly trigger a review alert, so you shall confirm the logical closed loop of documents with the customs broker in advance to ensure data consistency.

Emily
EmilyYears of service：3Customer Rating：5.0

Client Success AdvisorStart a Chat

CIF freight in international logistics shall be supported by official VAT logistics invoice, on which the port of origin and destination, name of goods, and freight amount shall be specified, and all information shall fully match the freight clauses on the ocean bill of lading. Informal receipts shall not be used as supporting vouchers.

In 2026, tax authorities have stricter compliance requirements for cross-border logistics vouchers, so you shall ensure that the freight payment path is consistent with the qualification of the overseas freight forwarder, to avoid tax refund verification triggered by abnormal capital repatriation.

David
DavidYears of service：3Customer Rating：5.0

Business Development AdvisorStart a Chat

For the overseas VAT corresponding to the freight part under CIF terms, deferred payment can be applied for in some EU countries in 2026. You shall request compliant VAT invoices from overseas freight forwarders, confirm that the invoice title, tax number and amount meet local requirements, and calculate the deferred VAT amount separately from the export tax refund declaration data, so as not to mix the scope of tax refund and tax deduction.

You shall learn the detailed VAT policies of the overseas trading countries in advance to ensure the deferred operation complies with local compliance requirements.

William
WilliamYears of service：10Customer Rating：5.0

International Logistics AdvisorStart a Chat

The foreign exchange receipt amount under CIF terms is the CIF price. You shall specify the corresponding FOB price of goods, freight and insurance premium details in the remark of bank foreign exchange receipt, to ensure that the foreign exchange receipt data is completely consistent with the amounts on the customs declaration form and export commercial invoice.

In 2026, the CIPS system has more refined requirements for remarks of cross-border receipts and payments, so as to avoid abnormal foreign exchange settlement and account reconciliation caused by incomplete receipt remarks, which will further affect the foreign exchange receipt compliance of tax refund declaration. You shall check the foreign exchange receipt voucher against the customs declaration data within 1 working day after receiving the payment.

Alexander
AlexanderYears of service：10Customer Rating：5.0

Senior Trade AdvisorStart a Chat

It shall be clearly specified in the sales contract which party shall bear the freight and insurance premium under CIF terms, as well as the detailed composition of the price, so as to avoid subsequent cost disputes caused by unclear contract agreements.

In 2026 international trade disputes, the clarity of price clauses is the core basis for arbitration. You shall note in the contract that the price standard for tax refund declaration is FOB price, to ensure both parties reach a consensus on the basic data of tax refund declaration, and avoid subsequent tax refund disputes caused by price differences.

Sophia
SophiaYears of service：7Customer Rating：5.0

Senior Customs AdvisorStart a Chat

If the goods are inspected on site at the port, you shall provide the customs inspectors with the sales contract under CIF terms, freight and insurance premium payment vouchers to prove the authenticity of the transaction method, so as to avoid goods detention or delayed release caused by failure to provide complete documents during inspection. In 2026, port inspection focuses more on the trade substance in document verification, so you shall ensure the relevance and authenticity of documents, and sort out the full set of materials required for inspection in advance.

Daniel
DanielYears of service：8Customer Rating：5.0

Legal AdvisorStart a Chat

If the enterprise frequently exports under CIF terms, it can optimize the supply chain path, sign long-term agreements with overseas freight forwarders to lock in the freight and insurance premium prices, reduce the changes caused by exchange rate fluctuations and logistics cost adjustments. When converting CIF price to FOB price for tax refund declaration, you can use the 2026 supply chain data linkage system to automatically calculate the FOB price, improve the declaration efficiency, reduce manual operation errors, and enhance the accuracy and timeliness of tax refund declaration.

Note: We respect all users' opinions and contributions. However, comments and answers reflect the views of their respective authors only.
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