1. Exemption of output tax and refund of input tax
Generally, e-commerce sellers have output tax and input tax in their exported goods. If the tax burden is reduced to zero, in general, the output tax is exempted and the input tax is refunded.
2. Exemption of output tax, but no refund of input tax
If the goods exported by e-commerce sellers do not have input tax, then generally only the output tax is exempted. If there is no input tax, there is no need to refund the input tax. For example, duty-free products and small-scale taxpayers, these are all situations where there is no input tax. Only the output tax is exempted but the input tax is not refunded, so as to achieve the result of reducing the tax burden to zero.
3. Neither the output tax is exempted nor the input tax is refunded
This form is mainly for goods that the country does not encourage the export, or even restricts or prohibits the export.
14.3.4 Conditions that goods subject to export tax rebates should meet
Every salesperson should have a clear understanding of the importance of export tax rebates, and the documents required for handling export tax rebates must also be correct, clear, legal and valid. During the handling process, salespersons also need to pay attention to the safekeeping of documents, especially the special VAT invoices for export goods and the special VAT payment slips for export goods. Once lost, it will undoubtedly cause great trouble to the handling of export tax rebates.
1. How to deal with the loss of special VAT invoices for export goods
Special VAT invoices are invoices issued during the export process to prove that the goods have paid VAT. At the same time, they are also indispensable documents for exporters to handle export tax rebates. Salespersons should keep them properly. If unfortunately they are lost, they should also deal with them as soon as possible in accordance with relevant regulations to avoid major impacts on foreign trade business.
In response to the situation where foreign trade enterprises handling export tax refunds lose special VAT invoices, my country’s State Administration of Taxation issued the “Notice on Issues Related to Export Tax Refunds for Foreign Trade Enterprises Losing the Special VAT Invoice Deduction Copy” as early as 2006, which provides a clear solution to this situation and avoids foreign trade salesmen being in the dark when encountering such accidents.
(1) If a foreign trade enterprise loses the invoice copy and the deduction copy of an issued special VAT invoice, after the special VAT invoice is authenticated, it can apply for export tax refunds with a copy of the accounting copy of the special VAT invoice and a tax declaration certificate for the lost special VAT invoice issued by the competent tax authority of the seller’s location, and after review and approval by the competent tax authority of the buyer.
(2) If a foreign trade enterprise loses the deduction copy of an issued special VAT invoice, after the special VAT invoice is authenticated, it can apply for export tax refunds with a copy of the special VAT invoice.
(3) For the cases falling under the provisions of Articles 1 and 2 of this Notice, the tax authorities in charge of export tax rebates in various places must strengthen the review of export tax rebates. When the information of the special VAT invoice is correct, the export tax rebate shall be handled in accordance with the current export tax rebate regulations.
In the process of handling export tax rebates, the salesperson should first try to ensure the safety of the bills and strive to handle the export tax rebate smoothly. If the bills are unfortunately lost, they should also remain calm and handle the export tax rebate legally and reasonably in accordance with the above regulations in a timely manner.
2. How to deal with the loss of the special payment slip for exported goods
The special VAT payment slip is as important as the special VAT invoice. For export tax rebates, the special tax payment slip is also an effective proof that the export enterprise has paid the tax payable for the exported goods. In 2009, the State Administration of Taxation of my country issued the “Notice on Adjusting the Deduction Period of VAT Deduction Certificates” (hereinafter referred to as the “Notice”). Article 2 and Article 4 of the Notice have clear provisions for the situation where export enterprises lose the special VAT payment slip for export goods when applying for export tax rebates:
Article 2 of the Notice stipulates that general VAT taxpayers who implement the “first comparison and then deduction” management method for the customs import VAT special payment slip (hereinafter referred to as the customs payment slip) shall submit a customs tax payment slip deduction list (including paper materials and electronic data) to the competent tax authority within 180 days from the date of issuance to apply for audit comparison.
Article 4 of the Notice stipulates that if a general VAT taxpayer loses the customs payment slip, he shall apply for deduction to the competent tax authority within the period specified in Article 2 of this Notice with the relevant tax payment certificate issued by the customs at the place of customs declaration. After accepting the application, the competent tax authority shall conduct an audit and include the electronic data of the customs payment slip provided by the taxpayer in the audit system for comparison. Only after the audit comparison is correct can the input tax deduction be allowed.
Salesmen should memorize the contents of the two “Notices” issued by the State Administration of Taxation in 2006 and 2009. Once the special VAT invoices and special VAT payment slips are accidentally lost, they should take remedial measures in accordance with the contents of the “Notices” in a timely manner to ensure the legitimate interests of the enterprise.