2026 Full Operation Guide for Foreign Trade Agency Export Tax Refund

2026 Foreign Trade Agency Export Tax Refund Process: Policy Dividends and Practical Implementation

Since 2026,the optimized adjustments to the foreign trade export tax refund policy launched by the State Taxation Administration have enabled many foreign trade enterprises in Shanghai to experience improved capital turnover efficiency.However,higher requirements for data interoperability have also caused tax refund delays for some enterprises due to inconsistent documents.As a Shanghai foreign trade agency with over 20 years of in-depth industry experience,Zhongshen has sorted out key points of the entire foreign trade agency export tax refund process based on the latest policies and practical experience,to help enterprises accurately capture dividends and avoid risks.

I.Core Adjustment Points of 2026 Export Tax Refund Policy

Since March 2026,the tax authority,customs administration and foreign exchange administration have jointly launched optimized tax refund policies,focusing on two core directions: "improving efficiency and strengthening compliance".The following two points are most closely related to foreign trade agency services:

• Implementation of dynamic tax refund rate adjustment mechanism: For 12 categories of key export commodities including mechanical and electrical products and new energy products,a "quarterly assessment + dynamic fine-tuning" system is implemented.For example,the tax refund rate for core new energy vehicle components has been raised from 13% to 15%,while the rate for some traditional low-value-added textile raw materials remains at 9%;
• Launch of full-process data interoperability platform: The tax system realizes real-time data sharing with the customs single window and foreign exchange monitoring system.Enterprises do not need to submit paper customs declarations and foreign exchange receipt certificates repeatedly,and the materials required for a single tax refund declaration are reduced by 60%.However,the commodity name,quantity and amount on customs declarations,invoices and foreign exchange receipt certificates must be 100% consistent.

II.Opportunities and Challenges for Export Enterprises Brought by Policy Adjustment

The 2026 tax refund policy adjustment has brought capital dividends to foreign trade enterprises,but also put forward higher requirements for document compliance.The specific comparison is as follows:

III.Zhongshen’s Practical Export Tax Refund Agency Service Solution

In response to practical difficulties after the 2026 policy adjustment,the tax refund service team led by Supervisor Liang from Zhongshen has launched a customized "three synchronizations and one review" solution to help enterprises solve practical problems:

• Synchronized policy update: The tax refund rate adjustment list is pushed to partner enterprises at the beginning of each quarter.In 2026,it has helped 32 foreign trade enterprises in Shanghai confirm the increased tax refund rate for new energy components,with a total additional tax refund amount of over CNY 8 million;
• Automatic data matching: Connected with the customs single window and tax system,it realizes automatic comparison of customs declarations,VAT invoices and foreign exchange receipt certificates,reducing the number of documents required for a single tax refund declaration from 8 to 3;
• Parallel process operation: The three links of foreign exchange receipt,customs declaration confirmation and tax refund declaration are integrated into "parallel" operation.The foreign exchange receipt certificate is uploaded within 3 working days after customs declaration,shortening the tax refund cycle from 15 working days to 7 working days;
• Two-person cross review: All tax refund materials are reviewed by the customs declaration post and tax refund post respectively.Since 2026,there have been no cases of tax refund rejection caused by inconsistent documents.

In addition,for enterprises exporting new energy vehicles,Zhongshen also provides a "test report pre-review" service,which connects with third-party institutions in advance to confirm the validity of CE certification,EPA certification and other reports,so as to avoid tax refund delays caused by non-compliant reports.

IV.Full Practical Operation Steps of Foreign Trade Agency Export Tax Refund

Combined with Zhongshen’s service experience,the core process of foreign trade agency export tax refund in 2026 can be divided into the following 5 steps:

• Pre-export preparation: The enterprise provides export contracts and commodity lists.Zhongshen assists in confirming HS codes and tax refund rates,and reminds the enterprise to prepare test reports and other materials in advance;
• Customs declaration and foreign exchange receipt: Zhongshen acts as an agent for customs declaration,and reminds the enterprise to complete foreign exchange receipt and upload the certificate within 3 working days after customs declaration;
• Document collection and review: Collect special VAT invoices,customs declarations and foreign exchange receipt certificates,and conduct two-person review after automatic comparison through the system;
• Tax refund declaration: Declare online through the tax system,upload electronic documents simultaneously,and obtain the tax acceptance receipt within 1 working day after declaration;
• Tax refund receipt and follow-up: The tax refund will be credited to the account within 7 working days after the tax review is passed,and Zhongshen will provide the detailed tax refund list simultaneously.

V.Practical Suggestions for Enterprises: Sort Out Commodity Code List Monthly

It is recommended that foreign trade enterprises in Shanghai sort out the corresponding relationship between HS codes and tax refund rates of export commodities at the end of each month,focusing on dynamically adjusted commodities such as new energy and mechanical and electrical products.If the code does not match the tax refund rate,you can contact the team led by Supervisor Liang from Zhongshen for review.In 2026,18 enterprises have avoided the problem of undercalculated tax refund rates caused by code errors through advance review.