To help foreign companies in their export tax rebate declarations, the following are answers to frequently asked questions.

Q1: We have a newly established export enterprise. Which channels can we use to apply for an export tax rebate?

A1: The tax authorities provide three free channels for the declaration of export tax rebates to choose from — the electronic taxation administration, the Single Window for international trade, and the offline tool for export tax rebate declarations. Your company can choose any of these channels to declare and process matters related to export tax refunds (exemptions).

Regulatory basis: Article 6 of the Announcement of the State Taxation Administration on Optimizing and Integrating the Export Tax Rebate Information System to Better Serve Taxpayers (Announcement No 15 of 2021 of the State Taxation Administration)

Q2: We have an export enterprise. In August 2022, we exported a batch of hardware tools to Nigeria. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we were unable to declare the export tax rebate in a timely manner. Can we still process the export tax rebate?

A2: Yes. For goods exported by your company in August 2022, which couldn’t be declared for an export tax refund (exemption) within the prescribed period due to the pandemic, you can process the export tax refund (exemption) according to regulations after collecting all relevant vouchers, materials, and electronic information.

Regulatory basis:

Article 4 of the Announcement of the Ministry of Finance and the State Taxation Administration on Clarifying the Value-added Tax Policies for the Lease of State-owned Agricultural Land and Other Matters (Announcement No 2 of 2020 of the Ministry of Finance and the State Taxation Administration)

Article 1 of the Announcement of the State Taxation Administration on Optimizing and Integrating the Export Tax Rebate Information System to Better Serve Taxpayers (Announcement No 15 of 2021 of the State Taxation Administration)

Item 2 under Article 8 of the Announcement of the State Taxation Administration on Further Facilitating the Handling of Export Tax Rebates to Promote the Stable Development of Foreign Trade (Announcement No 9 of 2022 of the State Taxation Administration)

Q3: We submitted an export tax rebate declaration through the electronic taxation administration but later discovered errors in the declared data. How can we withdraw the declared data?

A3: (1) If the rebate data has not been formally submitted, your company can click on the "Revoke Declaration Data" on the export tax rebate declaration interface of the electronic taxation administration, modify the corresponding data and then generate new declaration data.

(2) If the export tax rebate declaration data has been formally submitted but has not been approved by the tax authorities, your company can submit the Application Form for Enterprises to Withdraw Tax Rebate Declaration. The competent tax authority can return the declaration data to you if no circumstances unsupportive of a tax rebate are found after review.

Regulatory basis: Article 3 of the Announcement of the State Taxation Administration on Optimizing and Integrating the Export Tax Rebate Information System to Better Serve Taxpayers (Announcement No 15 of 2021 of the State Taxation Administration)

Source: "scofcom" WeChat account