---
title: "How to Claim Refund for Ocean Shipping Agency Fees Under 2026 New Export Tax Refund Regulations? - Zhongshen Trading China"
description: "In 2026，China's digital transformation of foreign trade accelerates. Amid fluctuations in ocean shipping costs，enterprises are paying increasing attention to export tax refunds. As an important cost in the export process，the adjustment of tax refund policy for ocean shipping agency fees directly affects corporate profits. Supervisor Wang from Zhongshen pointed out that the 2026 new regulations have optimized the declaration scope and review process for agency fees，and enterprises need to ac..."
url: "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/agency-knowledge/2026-export-tax-refund-shipping-agency-fee.html"
language: "en"
type: "Article"
category: "Agent Knowledge"
datePublished: "2026-09-29"
dateModified: "2026-09-29"
brand: "Zhongshen Trading China"
image: "https://cndpic.sh-zhongshen.com/uploads/tradepics/DJ48Uoj13skWp.webp"
---

# How to Claim Refund for Ocean Shipping Agency Fees Under 2026 New Export Tax Refund Regulations?

## Core Interpretation of 2026 Export Tax Refund Policy for Ocean Shipping Agency Fees

In March 2026,the State Taxation Administration and the General Administration of Customs jointly issued the Notice on Optimizing the Declaration and Management of Export Tax Refunds for Ocean Shipping Agency Fees,which made clear adjustments to the refund scope,review process and refund rate for ocean shipping agency fees.The core points of the policy are broken down as follows:

![Difficulty in Shipping Agency Fee Tax Refund? 2026 New Regulations Solve It](https://cndpic.sh-zhongshen.com/uploads/tradepics/DJ48Uoj13skWp.webp)

### Point 1: Declaration scope of agency fees clearly defined as "direct ocean shipping services"

The new regulation cancels the expression of "full refund of ocean shipping agency fees" in the original policy,and clarifies that only "direct ocean shipping service fees" paid by enterprises to institutions holding the International Ocean Shipping Agency Business Operation License can be included in the tax refund scope.The "direct services" here include fees for core links such as booking fees,bill of lading fees,customs declaration and inspection agency fees; while indirectly incurred warehousing and transshipment fees,port sundry fees,cargo insurance fees,etc.shall be accounted for separately and are not included in the agency fee tax refund scope.

### Point 2: Electronic review + credit classification management implemented

Starting from 2026,"full digitization of documents" is fully implemented for ocean shipping agency fee tax refund declarations: enterprises need to upload agency contracts,qualification certificates,payment vouchers and other materials through the electronic port system,and submission of paper materials is canceled.At the same time,classified review is carried out according to the enterprise’s credit rating:

- Class A enterprises: Preliminary review completed within 3 working days after declaration,with a verification ratio of no more than 10%
- Class B enterprises: Preliminary review completed within 5 working days after declaration,with a verification ratio of no more than 20%
- Class C and below enterprises: Preliminary review completed within 7 working days after declaration,with the verification ratio increased to 30%

### Point 3: Tax refund rate linked to routes,preferential treatment for emerging markets

The tax refund rate is no longer uniformly 6%,but adjusted according to the region where the route is located:

- Routes to Southeast Asia and RCEP member countries: 9% tax refund rate
- Routes to Europe and North America: 6% tax refund rate
- Other routes: 3% tax refund rate

This adjustment aims to encourage enterprises to expand emerging markets and reduce cost pressure caused by trade frictions with Europe and the United States.

![Zhongshen Analyzes 2026 Export Tax Refund Policy for Ocean Shipping Agency Fees](https://cndpic.sh-zhongshen.com/uploads/tradepics/DJ5yV5AeTfDm6.webp)

## Opportunities and Challenges for Export Enterprises Under 2026 New Regulations

The policy adjustment directly affects the cash flow and profits of enterprises,which requires precise response from both opportunity and challenge aspects:

### Opportunities: Improved tax refund efficiency + increased revenue from emerging markets

- **Tax refund cycle shortened by more than 30%**: Electronic review shortens the tax refund cycle for Class A enterprises from the original 15 days to 5-7 days,some pilot areas realize "immediate refund upon declaration" (funds received within 3 days),effectively easing the cash flow pressure of small,medium and micro enterprises.
- **More favorable agency fee tax refund for emerging markets**: Taking Southeast Asian routes as an example,if an enterprise pays 1 million yuan in agency fees annually,it can get an extra 30,000 yuan refund at the 9% refund rate (compared with the original 6%); for enterprises with annual agency fees exceeding 5 million yuan,the annual revenue can increase by more than 150,000 yuan.

### Challenges: Higher compliance requirements + increased difficulty in route judgment

- **Strict requirements for document consistency**: Electronic review has extremely high requirements for the consistency of "agency qualification,service content and invoice details".If the agency’s qualification expires or the service content is inconsistent with the declaration,it will directly lead to tax refund failure and affect the declaration credit for the following 3 months.
- **Accurate judgment of route ownership required**: There are "fuzzy areas" for some routes (for example,Dubai Port in the Middle East is both related to RCEP and classified as other routes).If enterprises make wrong judgments,it may lead to a 3-6 percentage point undercalculation of the tax refund rate.

## Zhongshen’s Core Services to Help Enterprises Implement the New Policy

Zhongshen has been deeply engaged in the foreign trade agency industry for more than 20 years,and has launched customized service solutions for the 2026 new regulations to help enterprises seize opportunities and cope with challenges:

### 1.Agency qualification pre-review + service list sorting

Supervisor Wang’s team at Zhongshen will carry out 3 verifications on the qualification of ocean shipping agencies before enterprises pay agency fees: whether they hold valid licenses,whether the service scope covers the core links required for export tax refund,and whether the invoice details match the service content.For example,a Shanghai garment export enterprise failed to get tax refund for 120,000 yuan of agency fees in 2025 due to the expired qualification of the agency; after passing Zhongshen’s pre-review in 2026,it successfully declared a tax refund of 10,800 yuan (at 9% refund rate).

### 2.Accurate matching of tax refund rate via route database

Zhongshen has established the latest 2026 global route database,covering the route ownership and corresponding tax refund rates of more than 1,200 ports.For ports in "fuzzy areas",it will judge whether they are eligible for RCEP preferences in combination with trade agreements (such as China-UAE bilateral agreement).For example,an electronic product enterprise exporting to Dubai originally thought it belonged to other routes and could get 3% tax refund.After Zhongshen confirmed that it belongs to RCEP-related routes,it can get 9% tax refund,and can get an extra 300,000 yuan refund for annual agency fees of 5 million yuan.

### 3.Full-process agency for electronic declaration

Zhongshen is equipped with a professional electronic port operation team,providing full-process services covering "document sorting - system uploading - review follow-up - fund receipt reminder".For Class A enterprises,a "green channel" is opened to ensure that they enter the review queue immediately after declaration.Since 2026,Zhongshen has helped more than 30 enterprises achieve a 100% success rate in ocean shipping agency fee tax refund declarations,with the average tax refund cycle shortened by 4 days compared with enterprises’ self-declaration.

| Enterprise Service Demand | Zhongshen’s Solution | Expected Effect |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Doubts about agency qualification | Qualification pre-review + customized compliance contract template | Tax refund declaration pass rate increased to 100% |
| Inaccurate judgment of route tax refund rate | Global route database + agreement policy interpretation | Tax refund rate miscalculation rate reduced to 0% |
| Complicated electronic declaration operation | Full-process agency + real-time progress reminder | Tax refund cycle shortened by 30%-50% |
| Irregular document retention | Electronic file management + policy compliance training | Subsequent verification pass rate 100% |

## Action Suggestions for Enterprises to Deal with Ocean Shipping Agency Fee Tax Refund in 2026

It is recommended that when signing service contracts with ocean shipping agencies,enterprises explicitly stipulate that "the service content shall meet the requirements of export tax refund declaration",and require the agency to provide a copy of the International Ocean Shipping Agency Business Operation License affixed with official seal and service detail list.At the same time,enterprises can establish an electronic file management system through professional agencies such as Zhongshen to retain all agency fee payment vouchers,invoices and electronic port operation records,so as to quickly supplement materials when problems occur in the review.

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