In the traditional export process, a customs declaration form must be filled in for each shipment of goods and then released by the customs. For scattered cross-border e-commerce packages, such a ticket-by-ticket declaration is almost impossible. Since 2014, the e-commerce retail export pilot has been carried out under the 9610 customs supervision method. In addition to enterprise registration, it has also undergone two optimizations. In the first stage, “list verification and summary declaration”, import and export, B2B and B2C are not separately stated. The customs conducts real-time verification based on the list submitted by the enterprise, and the enterprise needs to summarize the list into a customs declaration every month.
The second stage, “list declaration and list statistics”, in October 2015, the “China (Hangzhou) Cross-border E-Commerce Comprehensive Pilot Zone Customs Supervision Plan” was approved by the General Administration of Customs, and Hangzhou started New export pilot measures have been adopted. For cross-border e-commerce retail export goods that do not involve export taxes, export tax rebates, or license management and whose amount is less than RMB 5,000, enterprises can simplify declarations according to the “four-digit” items of the customs tariffs. They will no longer Customs declarations are summarized on a monthly basis, and the customs implements list statistics based on lists. After canceling aggregation, the simplification effect is still quite obvious. It is very troublesome to fill in the 10-digit customs code for a large number of packages.
In addition, in pilot cities, small parcels are shipped directly through the “single window”, which can reduce the inspection rate of export commodities and facilitate the implementation of aggregated export tax rebates.
After receiving the value-added tax invoice, traditional foreign trade companies can apply for tax refunds while declaring the goods for export and collecting payment and settling foreign exchange. The state encourages exports, levies first and then refunds the input tax in the purchase cost. Several points in this will become “extra income”, and some traders’ profits even come from this. Different products will pay different tax amounts, which generally range from 13% to 17%, and the corresponding tax refund ratios are 5% to 13% of the value of the goods.
However, there are no substantial changes in the normative requirements for the tax refund policy for cross-border e-commerce retail exports, and third-party cross-border e-commerce platforms are not applicable and cannot handle it. The tax refund process is actually very complicated, with strict supervision and review. To collect all the tax refund (exemption) declaration vouchers and information that must be provided to the competent authority according to regulations, it requires customs, foreign exchange administration, taxation, banking and other departments to run, occupying the corporate finance department. A lot of people’s time and effort. Foreign trade e-commerce practitioners are basically small companies, and they do not master professional communication and process standards for tax refunds, making it difficult to operate.
Under what conditions can e-commerce exports enjoy tax refunds? According to regulations, there are four necessary conditions for enjoying tax refunds. First, e-commerce export enterprises are general taxpayers of value-added tax and have handled export procedures with the competent tax authorities. Qualification for tax refund (exemption); secondly, the exported goods must obtain a customs export goods declaration form (exclusively for export tax refunds) and the information is consistent with the customs export goods declaration form; thirdly, the exported goods must collect foreign exchange within the deadline for tax refund (exemption) declaration. ; Fourth, if an e-commerce export enterprise is a foreign trade enterprise, it must obtain the corresponding special VAT invoice, special consumption tax payment note (divided bill) or special customs import VAT or consumption tax payment note for the purchase of imported and exported goods, and the relevant content of the above vouchers Match the name, quantity, unit and other relevant contents on the export goods customs declaration form (exclusively for export tax refund).
Enjoying tax exemption is a little simple. First, you need to go through tax registration. Second, you need to have a customs declaration form for export goods. Third, you need to obtain a legal and valid purchase certificate for purchasing imported and exported goods. According to the “Measures for the Classification Management of Export Tax Refund (Exemption) Enterprises”, export tax refund (exemption) enterprises are divided into four categories. Different credit levels enjoy different tax refund facilities. If the export enterprise is a small-scale taxpayer, tax exemption policy will be implemented.
However, in the past, few export cross-border e-commerce companies were willing to file tax returns in full. The tax refund that took half a day was not enough to cover the increased tax burden of “sunshine”, and the upstream procurement channels did not save money. Proactively provide VAT invoices; moreover, cross-border payments are separated from traditional banks, and it is even more impossible to collect and write off foreign exchange; in the end, there will be no collection or refund, and you will remain “diving” and enjoy the tax exemption policy implicitly.
How does cross-border e-commerce handle tax refunds? Driven by the comprehensive business tax to VAT reform, more and more upstream supplier companies have more value-added tax invoices that can be transferred to e-commerce sellers, so many Sellers can get a 17-point value-added tax invoice, thereby qualifying for a full tax refund.
At present, the easiest way to resolve the export tax rebate problem is to use “export tax rebate outsourcing” through comprehensive foreign trade service companies. Small and medium-sized enterprises nominally sell the goods they produce to comprehensive foreign trade service enterprises. Goods exported by foreign trade service enterprises in a self-operated manner can be declared for refund (exemption) in accordance with the provisions of 9610 “Distribution and Collection Report” cross-border e-commerce self-operated exports. Tax. The practical process of tax refund (exemption) for exported goods by third-party agents is: export tax refund filing→declaration→review→overseas exchange collection→exchange settlement→tax refund and tax refund settlement.
For example, the Beijing version of the comprehensive foreign trade service platform “Jingmaotong” mainly provides foreign trade services such as financing, customs clearance, export tax rebates, logistics, and insurance to small, medium and micro enterprises. It can advance taxes and fees to settled enterprises in advance. Sales on credit. During customs clearance operations, goods can be declared to customs and commodity inspection at various ports across the country in the name of Beijing BBMG Trading Co., Ltd. to improve tax refund efficiency.
Through the BBC overseas warehouse or supervised warehouse stocking model, goods can be declared for export to overseas warehouses, and you can also cooperate with foreign trade exports to obtain the export declaration form, the key document for tax refund, and then operate the tax refund. In short, electronic customs clearance and paperless tax processing are still the keys to improving the efficiency of customs declaration and tax refund in the future.