Customs planning can be carried out at two levels: first, under the framework of existing laws and policies, using tax incentives and cooperating with relevant regulatory systems to achieve the purpose of reducing tax burdens; second, under the existing organizational structure and operating conditions of enterprises, strengthening internal control, standardizing import and export operations, cooperating with customs supervision and management, and achieving the goals of reducing customs clearance costs, reducing tax burdens, and improving profitability by improving the classification level of enterprises and enjoying convenient customs clearance treatment.
In short, it is to reduce the tax burden, improve customs clearance efficiency, and strive for after-tax profits. In order to achieve the basic goals of customs planning, the goals of customs planning can be refined as follows.
1. Fulfilling tax obligations
Fulfilling tax obligations is the basic goal or minimum goal of customs planning, which aims to avoid tax risks and avoid any tax costs beyond the statutory tax obligations. To this end, importers and exporters should comply with taxes, that is, pay taxes according to law, and achieve zero tax risks. Because taxes are mandatory, if they deviate from tax compliance, enterprises will face tax risks. The tax system is complex and changeable, which means that tax obligations cannot be automatically fulfilled. Importers and exporters must continue to learn, timely and correctly master the current “Customs Law” and related laws and regulations, and then make corresponding plans to fulfill tax obligations.
2. Minimize customs clearance costs
Minimize customs clearance costs and fulfill tax obligations are both basic tax planning goals. In order to fulfill import and export obligations, importers and exporters will inevitably incur corresponding customs clearance costs. Customs clearance costs include direct customs clearance costs and indirect customs clearance costs. The former is the manpower, material and financial resources paid by importers and exporters to fulfill import and export obligations, and the latter is the commercial risks, reputation losses, psychological pressures, etc. borne by importers and exporters in the process of fulfilling import and export obligations. Direct customs clearance costs are easy to confirm and measure, while indirect customs clearance costs need to be estimated or calculated. The higher the customs clearance efficiency of customs supervision, the lower the risk of goods delivery date borne by importers and exporters; the more transparent and fair the customs supervision is, the less fear importers and exporters have of customs. The reduction of customs clearance costs is related to subjective factors such as the continuous improvement of tax payment ability and enhanced awareness of customs clearance costs by importers and exporters, as well as the tax system, the quality of regulatory personnel, regulatory means, and regulatory methods. At the same time, the reduction of customs clearance costs for importers and exporters also means the improvement of customs clearance efficiency, the increase of tax revenue and the reduction of regulatory costs, which is a win-win result.
3. Minimization of tax burden
Minimization of tax burden is the highest goal of customs planning. It is a positive goal of customs planning. Modern customs planning should obey and serve the financial goals of modern enterprises. From this perspective, minimization of tax burden is not a goal but a means. Regarding corporate financial goals, there are currently mainly maximization of corporate profits, maximization of corporate value, maximization of earnings per share, maximization of shareholder wealth, and maximization of stakeholders’ interests. The reason why there are multiple expressions of corporate financial goals is that enterprises have different focuses at different stages of development, or different organizational forms of enterprises, or different perspectives. From the perspective of customs planning, minimization of tax burden is the basis and prerequisite for maximizing post-tax profits (wealth, value).
Economic globalization has led to increasingly frequent international economic trade, with more and more import and export enterprises and larger and larger scales. However, the customs tax system, regulatory system, and customs clearance mode are complex, diverse, and changeable. How enterprises can achieve the lowest tax burden and maximize profits (value) in import and export operations is a complex system project. It is necessary to conduct overall planning and arrangement of the customs affairs of enterprises, seek a balance between legal provisions, international practices, ethical norms, and business management needs, and maximize the profits (value) of enterprises under zero tax risk. Therefore, customs planning cannot only consider how much or how little individual taxes are paid, and cannot simply use the current tax burden as a judgment standard, but use the overall and long-term interests of the enterprise as a judgment standard, and seek a balance in different regulatory systems, taxation models, and customs clearance treatments.
The specific goals of customs planning are not completely separate. Different enterprises can have different specific goals. The same enterprise may have several specific goals in the same period, and its specific goals in different periods may also be different and have different emphases.