What full set of declaration documents that meet the 2026 policy requirements do you need to prepare for the first-time export tax refund?
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I am the head of a foreign trade company that just obtained the import and export operation right this year. We dispatched the first batch of home goods to Europe last month, and completed the whole process of customs declaration, sea freight and foreign exchange collection last week.
My peers told me that their first tax refund was stuck for 3 to 4 months before they received the payment. I am completely at a loss now: I am afraid the application will be rejected directly if I submit incomplete documents, and I also worry that inconsistent document logic will trigger a tax audit letter, which will delay subsequent tax refund progress and even affect the company's subsequent tax refund qualification.
I cannot even distinguish between basic required documents and documents that need to be kept for future reference in advance. I just want to confirm exactly what documents to prepare for the first-time export tax refund to pass the declaration smoothly at one attempt.
RobertYears of service：6Customer Rating：5.0
Warehouse Management AdvisorStart a Chat
The preparation of documents for the first-time export tax refund shall be sorted out in three successive nodes: pre-filing，formal declaration，and retention for future reference. Do not rush to gather documents temporarily when the declaration period is approaching，which will easily cause document mismatch and directly extend the entire tax refund cycle.
At the pre-document review stage，prepare basic filing documents first，including the Foreign Trade Operator Filing Form，Customs Receivers and Consignors of Import and Export Goods Confirmation Receipt，VAT general taxpayer qualification certificate，and Export Tax (Exemption) Refund Filing Form. The unified social credit code of all qualification documents must be completely consistent，and there shall be no wrong characters in the entity name on different licenses or unupdated outdated information.
For core node connection，the core documents for formal declaration include electronic information of export goods customs declaration，special VAT input invoice，and export invoice. In 2026，paperless tax refund declaration has been fully implemented nationwide. All paper documents shall be scanned into 300DPI high-definition electronic copies in advance，and verify that the product name，quantity and measurement unit of export goods on the customs declaration fully match the input invoice before uploading to the tax refund system.
For abnormal response plans，if the customs electronic information is not synchronized with the tax system information，you can submit an information inquiry application in the declaration system in advance to avoid getting stuck at the information matching link. At the final compliance implementation stage，four types of documents including bill of lading，logistics waybill，purchase and sales contract，and foreign exchange collection voucher shall be kept separately for document filing. All filed documents shall be sorted and archived within 15 working days after declaration，so that they can be submitted for verification immediately in case of random tax inspection，no need to search or re-prepare them temporarily.
SarahYears of service：3Customer Rating：5.0
Foreign Exchange AdvisorStart a Chat
The "four flows consistency" verification is the core check standard for the first tax refund. When sorting out all documents, verify the correspondence of goods flow, capital flow, invoice flow and contract flow item by item. The goods shipment time shall match the departure date on the customs declaration, and the difference between the received foreign exchange amount and the goods value on the customs declaration shall be controlled within 5%.
The issuing date of the input invoice shall be earlier than or close to the export date, and the situation where the issuing date of the input invoice is more than 90 days later than the export date shall not occur. After submitting the pre-declaration, export the verification result immediately, mark and explain the reasons for all doubts before submitting the formal declaration, and do not skip the pre-declaration link directly. Before formal declaration, unify the file names of all electronic documents and archive them by number, so that they can be submitted directly during subsequent tax audit letters, reducing time spent on re-submitting documents back and forth.
EllaYears of service：10Customer Rating：5.0
Senior Financial AdvisorStart a Chat
The filled content of the export goods customs declaration shall be completely consistent with the subsequent tax refund declaration content. Focus on checking the domestic source of goods column, which shall be consistent with the location of the input invoice issuer.
If the filled source of goods is incorrect, submit a modification application in a timely manner. In 2026, the modification time limit of the national integrated customs clearance system has been shortened to within 3 working days. Do not wait until information mismatch is found when applying for tax refund to handle it.
You also need to confirm that the transportation mode and transaction mode on the customs declaration are filled accurately, the FOB price shall be calculated separately to avoid errors in the subsequent tax calculation basis. Do not fill in irrelevant content casually in the remark column of the customs declaration, to prevent triggering abnormal alerts of the tax system.
OliviaYears of service：5Customer Rating：5.0
Senior Customs AdvisorStart a Chat
The correspondence between the foreign exchange collection voucher and the customs declaration shall be clearly marked. If you collect foreign exchange through the CIPS RMB cross-border payment channel, download and keep the corresponding payment message. The transaction remark in the message shall match the attribute of goods trade export, situations where the payment remark is marked as "service fee" or "inter-company receivable" are not allowed.
If the full final payment of the first export order has not been received, you can mark the corresponding deemed foreign exchange collection clause in the system for the first declaration. As long as full foreign exchange collection is completed before the deadline of the VAT declaration period in April of the next year, there is no need to directly handle the business as tax exemption.
DavidYears of service：3Customer Rating：5.0
Business Development AdvisorStart a Chat
Logistics-related transportation documents shall be sorted and prepared according to different transportation modes. For sea freight, keep copies of the full set of freight forwarder bill of lading and sea master bill of lading.
The consignor on the bill of lading shall be consistent with the subject declaring for export tax refund, and the consignee name shall be completely corresponding to the buyer name on the overseas sales contract. The information of transit port and departure port shall be consistent with the content on the customs declaration.
For air export, keep the original scanned copy of air waybill. For cross-border land transport, keep the scanned copy of the port cargo manifest. The gross weight and package quantity of goods on all logistics documents shall be consistent with the corresponding content on the customs declaration, without obvious numerical deviation.
DanielYears of service：8Customer Rating：5.0
Legal AdvisorStart a Chat
If the first order of export goods is selected for customs inspection at the port, keep the scanned copies of the inspection notice and inspection release certificate in advance. If subsequent tax refund declaration is marked as abnormal by the system, these certificates can be directly used as supporting materials to prove the actual shipment of goods.
The photos of goods taken during container unpacking inspection can also be archived separately. The product name and specification in the photos shall correspond to the commodity information on the input invoice, the situation where the actual product name does not match the declared product name is not allowed. These supporting materials can greatly shorten the verification cycle of tax audit letters.
AlexanderYears of service：10Customer Rating：5.0
Senior Trade AdvisorStart a Chat
Elements of the overseas sales contract shall be filled completely, including the name, address, contact information, goods details, transaction amount, payment node and breach of contract liability of both parties, which shall be listed one by one. Do not use a simplified contract that only contains goods value and product name.
The contract shall be affixed with the official seal or valid signature of both parties, and the signing date shall be earlier than the goods shipment date. If L/C settlement is involved, keep the original scanned copy of the letter of credit separately, as well as the retained copies of subsequent presentation documents, as supplementary supporting materials for transaction authenticity, to avoid being unable to prove the legal validity of the transaction during subsequent tax inspection.
JohnYears of service：6Customer Rating：5.0
Export Tax Rebate AdvisorStart a Chat
If the first export business applies for the VAT deferral policy, keep the corresponding deferral qualification certificate issued by the tax authority of the destination country in advance, which can be directly used for input tax deduction when declaring for tax refund, without additional calculation of prepaid tax in the destination country. Before the first declaration, check your export tax refund classification management category in advance.
Newly established enterprises generally belong to the third category of enterprises when handling tax refund for the first time. As long as all documents are compliant, the arrival cycle of tax refund can be shortened to as fast as 5 working days, and there is no need for long waiting.