2026 Export Tax Refund Declaration Process and Key Considerations for Manufacturers

Core Analysis of 2026 Export Tax Refund Declaration Process for Manufacturers

Since 2026,China’s export tax refund policies have been continuously optimized around the principle of "precise empowerment,speed-up and efficiency improvement".As the core players in foreign trade exports,the compliance and efficiency of the tax refund declaration process for manufacturers directly affect their capital turnover speed.Recently,multiple manufacturing enterprises in Shanghai have reported that some policy detail adjustments have caused declaration delays; however,with the assistance of professional foreign trade agencies,the tax refund fund arrival cycle can be shortened by more than 40%.

I.Key Points Analysis of the 2026 Latest Export Tax Refund Policy

Combined with Announcement No.3 of 2026 issued by the State Taxation Administration and supporting notices from the General Administration of Customs,the core policy adjustments can be summarized into the following 3 points:

• Differential Adjustments to Tax Refund Rates: The tax refund rates for 12 categories of mechanical and electrical products including photovoltaic modules and new energy vehicle batteries remain at 13%.The tax refund rates for 8 categories of agricultural products including tea and dehydrated vegetables have been increased from 10% to 11%,covering approximately 3,000 manufacturing export enterprises across the country; the tax refund rates for some low-end plastic products have been reduced from 9% to 8%,guiding enterprises to optimize their export product structure.
• Optimization of Declaration Time Limit and Verification Mechanism: The electronic declaration review time limit has been reduced from 15 working days to 10 working days.Materials such as paper customs declarations and bills of lading have been changed from "submitted before declaration" to "retained for inspection",so enterprises no longer need to submit paper documents to the tax authorities in advance.
• Credit Rating-linked Tax Refund Priority: Class A credit-rated manufacturing enterprises can enjoy the "refund first,verify later" policy,with funds arriving within 3 working days after the review is approved; Class B enterprises need to complete the document consistency verification before receiving tax refunds; Class C and lower-rated enterprises need to provide proof of goods flow and capital flow issued by third-party institutions,and the verification time limit is extended to 15 working days.

II.Opportunities and Challenges of Policy Adjustments for Manufacturing Enterprises

Policy changes bring dividends to compliant enterprises while also putting forward higher requirements for process management:

III.Zhongshen Agency Service Implementation Solutions

In response to the 2026 policy changes,Zhongshen,with over 20 years of foreign trade agency experience,provides the following implementation services for manufacturing enterprises:

• Accurate Commodity Code Matching: Through the linkage between the customs database and the tax system,we match the optimal code for enterprises’ export commodities to ensure accurate tax refund rates and avoid tax refund losses caused by code errors (last year,we helped a photovoltaic enterprise recover approximately 1.2 million yuan in tax refund differences).
• Full-process Assistance for Electronic Declaration: We assign dedicated personnel to connect with the tax system,complete the entire process operations including export customs declaration data synchronization,VAT invoice certification,and tax refund declaration form filling,ensuring 100% accuracy of declaration information,with the average review approval time shortened to 7 working days.
• Credit Rating Optimization Advice: We provide standardized document management guidance for Class B enterprises to help them upgrade to Class A credit ratings within one year and enjoy the "refund first,verify later" policy; we provide third-party proof material preparation services for Class C enterprises to speed up the verification progress.
• Standardized Document Retention Service: We have established a digital system of "export data - document archiving",classify and retain paper and electronic documents in accordance with tax requirements,conduct regular self-inspections,and reduce inspection risks.

IV.Practical Recommendations for Manufacturing Enterprises

Combined with policy requirements and agency service experience,it is recommended that manufacturing enterprises complete the electronic declaration of last month’s export data by the 10th of each month,and at the same time archive paper documents in the order of "export invoice → customs declaration form → bill of lading → packing list → special VAT invoice",with a retention period of no less than 5 years.In addition,enterprises need to regularly update their commodity code libraries to avoid tax refund applications being rejected due to code adjustments.

Mr.Fan,general manager of a Shanghai new energy parts manufacturing enterprise,stated that with the assistance of Zhongshen for declaration in 2026,the tax refund fund arrival cycle was shortened from the previous 18 days to 6 days,significantly improving capital turnover efficiency and providing strong support for the enterprise to expand its export scale.