2026 Export Tax Refund for Import and Export Agency Services: Policy Changes and Practical Operation Guide

2026 Export Tax Refund for Import and Export Agency Services: New Policy Trends and Enterprise Implementation Guide

Since 2026,China’s foreign trade policies have been continuously updated around the goal of "stabilizing scale and optimizing structure".As an important cash flow source for foreign trade enterprises,adjustments to export tax refund policies are directly related to the profit margin of enterprises.Many small and medium-sized foreign trade enterprises lack professional teams and cannot accurately interpret new policies,either missing out on tax refund benefits or facing penalties due to compliance issues.Combined with the latest 2026 policies,this article breaks down core points,analyzes the impact on enterprises,and introduces Zhongshen’s implementation service solutions.

I.Breakdown of Core Points of the 2026 Export Tax Refund Policy

In March 2026,the Ministry of Finance and the State Taxation Administration jointly issued the *Notice on Optimizing Export Tax Refund Policies to Support High-Quality Development of Foreign Trade*,among which three key changes deserve enterprises’ close attention:

• Higher tax refund rate for high-end equipment: The tax refund rate for core new energy vehicle components (such as motor controllers,battery management systems) and high-end medical devices (such as proton therapy equipment) has been increased from 13% to 16%,covering more than 200 HS codes; the tax refund rate for traditional labor-intensive products (such as some plastic products) remains at 10%,guiding enterprises to transform to high value-added fields.
• Expanded scope of "tolerance acceptance" for e-filing: When enterprises declare tax refunds through the Electronic Tax Bureau,if they lack some non-core paper materials (such as copies of export contracts),they can submit electronic data first for acceptance,and supplement the missing materials within 3 working days later; the declaration time limit has been shortened from the original 15 working days to 10 working days.
• Upgraded authenticity verification: Tax authorities have realized data sharing with customs and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange,focusing on verifying the "three-flow consistency" (goods flow,capital flow,invoice flow).For enterprises that falsely declare tax refunds,in addition to recovering the overpaid tax amount,their export tax refund declaration qualification will be suspended for 6 months.

II.Opportunities and Challenges Brought by Policy Changes to Enterprises

The 2026 policy adjustment has different impacts on different types of foreign trade enterprises,which should be viewed dialectically from the two aspects of opportunities and challenges:

III.Zhongshen’s Agency Implementation Service Solutions

In response to the opportunities and challenges brought by the 2026 policy changes,Zhongshen relies on more than 20 years of industry experience to launch targeted service solutions to help enterprises complete tax refund processing efficiently:

• Accurate policy matching service: We have set up a special policy monitoring team to update the HS code and tax refund rate database weekly.After enterprises submit the list of export commodities,the team led by Manager Fu will check the tax refund rate corresponding to each code one by one to ensure that enterprises enjoy the highest applicable tax refund rate.Since 2026,we have helped more than 120 enterprises adjust their HS codes,with an average additional tax refund of 82,000 RMB per enterprise.
• Tolerance declaration process optimization: We connect with the electronic declaration system of the tax authority,pre-review the electronic data of enterprises in advance,and remind enterprises to supplement non-core materials in advance to ensure that enterprises complete the declaration within 10 working days.For some enterprises using this service,the tax refund arrival time is 5 working days shorter than self-declaration.
• Pre-positioned compliance risk control service: Before enterprises sign export contracts,we assist in sorting out the corresponding relationship between goods flow (bill of lading,packing list),capital flow (foreign exchange receipt voucher) and invoice flow (special VAT invoice),to avoid the risk of "three-flow inconsistency" in advance.Among the enterprises served in Q1 2026,there were zero compliance penalties.

IV.Practical Suggestions for Enterprises

In view of the 2026 export tax refund policy,Manager Meng from Zhongshen suggests that enterprises: Log on to the official website of the General Administration of Customs at the beginning of each quarter to check the latest HS codes and tax refund rates of export commodities,to avoid incorrect application of tax refund rates caused by code updates.If enterprises are not familiar with code verification,they can entrust the professional team of Zhongshen for assistance to reduce the error probability.