2026 Adjustment of Export Tax Refund Policy, How Much Can Xinle-based Enterprises Get and How to Calculate

Interpretation of Core Changes to the 2026 Export Tax Refund Policy

At the beginning of 2026,the State Taxation Administration and the General Administration of Customs of China jointly issued the Notice on Optimizing Export Tax Refund Structure and Improving Trade Facilitation.This document directly determines how much tax refund export enterprises in Xinle can get throughout the year.Compared with previous years,this adjustment is no longer a simple increase or decrease of tax rates,but has established a dual-track mechanism of "tax refund rate linked to industrial orientation,tax refund speed linked to compliance level".The customs declaration department of Zhongshen found in the interpretation that the document clearly divides export commodities into three lists: encouraged,maintained,and restricted,which apply to three tax refund rates of 13%,10% and 6% respectively,and cancels a large number of previous scattered special tax rate provisions.

For traditional textile enterprises in Xinle,this change means that the 11% tax refund rate that has been applied for many years may be adjusted.Take the clothing processing factory run by Mr.Ding as an example: its export products are mainly classified under HS Code 6109,which enjoyed 11% tax refund in 2025,but under the 2026 new policy,it is classified into the maintained list,and the tax refund rate is adjusted to 10%.On the surface,the tax rate drops by 1 percentage point,but as the new policy also simplifies the input tax deduction chain,the actual refund amount of Mr.Ding’s enterprise has not decreased significantly,and capital turnover efficiency has improved instead due to the simplified declaration process.

Structural Adjustment of Tax Refund Rate as the Main Feature

The most prominent feature of the 2026 policy is differentiated adjustment.The encouraged list mainly covers strategic emerging industries such as high-tech equipment,new energy products,and biomedicine.The average tax refund rate for such commodities has been uniformly increased from the previous 10% to 13%.The maintained list covers traditional manufacturing,consumer goods and other fields,with the tax refund rate stable at around 10%.The restricted list involves high energy-consuming,high-polluting and resource-based products,with the tax refund rate lowered to 6%.After sorting out the main export categories in Xinle,Zhongshen found that local electromechanical equipment manufacturing enterprises generally benefit,with the tax refund rate increased by 3 percentage points; while chemical raw material export enterprises face pressure of tax refund rate reduction.

It is worth noting that the new policy cancels more than 200 special remark clauses in the original Export Commodity Tax Refund Rate Library.In the past,enterprises often applied different tax rates due to subtle differences in commodity specifications and uses,which caused a lot of disputes.The 2026 policy adopts the principle of "broad classification,strict declaration": as long as the commodity is classified into a general category code,a unified tax refund rate applies,which provides a clear expectation for enterprises to calculate the tax refund amount.Zhongshen suggests that enterprises re-sort their product catalogs,check the new list to confirm the accurate tax rate,and avoid under-refund or overpayment caused by wrong classification.

Optimization of the Linkage Mechanism Between Tariff Rate Quota Management and Tax Refund

Another important change in 2026 is the linked management of tariff rate quota and export tax refund.The General Administration of Customs has added an "in-quota/out-of-quota" identification field in the new declaration system.For commodities subject to tariff rate quota management,import value-added tax within the quota is levied at a lower rate,and the tax refund rate is correspondingly increased when exported.This mechanism directly affects the tax refund amount of agricultural product processing enterprises in Xinle.For example,the food export company run by Mr.Ding’s friend,whose raw material sugar is a quota-managed commodity,has an import VAT rate of 9% within the quota in 2026,and the corresponding export tax refund rate can be increased to 11%,2 percentage points higher than that for out-of-quota imports.

Zhongshen found in practical operations that the new policy requires enterprises to submit quota certification documents simultaneously when declaring exports,otherwise the system will automatically calculate the tax refund according to the out-of-quota tax rate.This regulation increases requirements for document preparation,but also brings tangible tax refund growth for enterprises that make full use of quotas.Zhongshen reminds Xinle enterprises that they must plan annual quota application at the beginning of the year and match it with export plans to maximize tax refund benefits.

Dual Impacts of Policy Adjustment on Xinle Export Enterprises

Any policy change coexists with opportunities and challenges.The impact of the 2026 new export tax refund policy on Xinle enterprises can be evaluated from two dimensions: capital efficiency and compliance cost.A Xinle-based electronic component export enterprise served by Zhongshen had an annual tax refund of about 2.8 million yuan in 2025.Under the dual effects of increased tax refund rate and accelerated process,the annual tax refund is expected to increase to about 3.2 million yuan in 2026,an increase of 14%.But at the same time,the enterprise’s investment in document sorting and system declaration has also increased accordingly.

Opportunity: Tax Refund Rate Increase and Process Acceleration for Some Industries

For enterprises engaged in emerging industries such as intelligent equipment,new energy batteries,and medical devices in Xinle,the 2026 policy brings substantial benefits.The tax refund rate increased from 10% to 13%,which means that for every 1 million yuan of goods exported,30,000 yuan more tax refund can be obtained.According to Zhongshen’s calculation,a new energy enterprise with an annual export volume of 50 million yuan can increase the annual tax refund by 1.5 million yuan just from this adjustment.More importantly,the new policy implements the mechanism of "credit rating determines tax refund speed".Class A credit enterprises can achieve tax refund arrival within 3 working days,a sharp reduction from the previous average of 15 working days.

After consulting Zhongshen,Mr.Ding learned that if his enterprise maintains a zero-violation record in the first half of 2026,its credit rating is expected to increase from Class B to Class A,and the tax refund cycle will be shortened from an average of 10 days to 3 days.For foreign trade enterprises with tight working capital,this speed increase is as valuable as the tax rate increase.Zhongshen suggests that Xinle enterprises include credit rating management in their annual key work,and gain capital efficiency through standardized operations.

Challenge: Higher Compliance Threshold and Stricter Document Requirements

While relaxing tax rate differentiation,the 2026 policy has greatly tightened compliance review standards.The State Taxation Administration has established an "export tax refund risk identification model" to conduct three-way verification on document consistency,logistics authenticity,and capital transaction compliance.Zhongshen found in agency business that the new model has a very high probability of triggering early warning for the following situations: export price deviates more than 15% from the average market price of similar commodities,collection is more than 90 days later than the export date,and there is a slight discrepancy between logistics documents and customs declaration information.

A furniture export enterprise in Xinle was judged as having "input tax doubt" by the system in the first quarter 2026 declaration due to non-standard invoicing from its supplier,resulting in 2 million yuan of tax refund being withheld for verification,which affected normal capital turnover.Zhongshen’s experience in handling such cases shows that enterprises must standardize supply chain invoice management from the source to ensure full information matching of "contract - invoice - logistics - customs declaration - foreign exchange collection".The improved compliance requirements put forward higher requirements for the internal management ability of small and medium-sized enterprises.

How Zhongshen Converts Policy Dividends into Actual Tax Refund for Enterprises

Facing the 2026 policy changes,Zhongshen’s service logic is "accurate identification + process reengineering + risk isolation".Zhongshen is not satisfied with simply submitting declarations on behalf of enterprises,but goes deep into enterprises’ business processes,redesigns tax refund management plans,ensures that every link meets the new policy requirements,and every cent of due tax refund can be fully and quickly credited to the account.

Accurately Identify Commodity Codes to Match the Optimal Tax Refund Rate

Zhongshen has established a special commodity classification team,sorting out product catalogs one by one for Xinle customers against the 2026 new edition of the Encouraged Export Commodity List.Mr.Ding’s clothing factory originally declared under code 6109.1000,with a 10% tax refund rate.After analyzing the product technology,Zhongshen found that some of its high-end functional garments meet the definition of technical textiles under code 6113.0010,can be classified into the encouraged list and apply the 13% tax refund rate.Through re-classification,this part of products can get 30,000 yuan more tax refund for every 1 million yuan of export.

This refined service requires the agency to have an in-depth understanding of commodity characteristics,process standards,and classification rules.Zhongshen has built a database of main export commodities in Xinle,recording the tax refund rate,regulatory conditions,and historical declaration success rate corresponding to each HS code,providing enterprises with the most accurate tax rate prediction.Enterprises do not need to study complex policies by themselves,only need to provide product information,and Zhongshen can issue a Tax Refund Rate Optimization Proposal,clearly informing how much can be refunded and how to get more refund.

Whole-process Document Management to Avoid Compliance Risks

Under the 2026 new policy,document compliance has become the key to successful tax refund.Zhongshen has designed a "three-stage review" mechanism for Xinle customers: pre-review document integrity when receiving orders,re-review logical consistency before declaration,and track system feedback after submission.Zhongshen requires customers to provide full-process export documents,including purchase contracts,input invoices,packing lists,bills of lading,customs declarations,and foreign exchange collection receipts,to ensure 100% information matching through cross verification.

When Mr.Ding’s enterprise exported a batch of goods in March 2026,the container number on the shipping company’s bill of lading had one character difference from that on the customs declaration,which triggered a system warning.Zhongshen found this problem before declaration,contacted the shipping company in time to correct the bill of lading,and avoided the risk of tax refund being withheld.This pre-risk management saves a lot of time cost for enterprises.Zhongshen also provides document templates and filling specifications for customers,trains enterprise documentary staff,and reduces errors from the source.

Electronic Declaration Speeds Up Tax Refund Arrival Cycle

Zhongshen fully adopts the 2026 new version of the export tax refund module of the electronic tax bureau,realizing automatic data capture,intelligent form filling,and one-click declaration.Traditional manual entry of one declaration form takes 2 hours and is prone to errors; Zhongshen’s system can automatically export data from the enterprise ERP and generate a standard declaration file,and the whole process is compressed to 15 minutes.For large export volume enterprises in Xinle,this efficiency improvement means that tax refund applications can be submitted monthly or even weekly,no longer accumulated for centralized processing at the end of the quarter.

More importantly,Zhongshen has achieved direct data connection with taxation and customs systems,and can monitor declaration status in real time.Once the tax refund is approved,the system immediately notifies the enterprise to check the arrival.The April 2026 tax refund declared by Mr.Ding’s enterprise through Zhongshen only took 2 working days from submission to arrival,which is unimaginable in the traditional mode.Zhongshen also provides tax refund arrival prediction services for enterprises,helping enterprises accurately plan cash flow.

Calculation Example of Export Tax Refund Amount for Xinle Enterprises

To let Xinle enterprises clearly understand how much tax refund they can get in 2026,Zhongshen simulates the calculation process with the actual data of Mr.Ding’s clothing factory.The factory exported a batch of knitted T-shirts in May 2026,with an FOB price of 500,000 yuan,production cost of 350,000 yuan,and an input VAT rate of 13%.

According to the 2026 policy,this product is classified under HS Code 6109.1000,applicable to a 10% tax refund rate.The calculation formula is: Tax Refund Payable = VAT Tax (Exemption) Calculation Basis × Tax Refund Rate.The calculation basis is the FOB price of export goods minus the non-exempt and non-deductible tax in the export link.When calculating,Zhongshen found that because the new policy simplifies input tax transfer rules,the enterprise can directly calculate the tax refund by 500,000 yuan × 10%,which is 50,000 yuan.Compared with the complex input tax transfer calculation required under the old policy,the new rule allows enterprises to estimate the tax refund amount more intuitively.

As can be seen from the table above,although the tax refund rate has been slightly lowered,after combining improved calculation efficiency and accelerated capital turnover,the actual benefit of the enterprise has not decreased.According to Zhongshen’s calculation,for a medium-sized enterprise with an annual export volume of 30 million yuan,the annual tax refund under the 2026 new policy is about 3 million yuan,basically the same as that in 2025,but capital occupation time is shortened by 70%,which is equivalent to increasing working capital use efficiency by about 2 million yuan.

Practical Action Path for Enterprises Under the Current Policy Environment

The 2026 export tax refund policy has been clarified,and Xinle enterprises need to take immediate action to adjust internal management processes to ensure they receive all tax refunds they are entitled to.Based on the experience of serving hundreds of enterprises,Zhongshen suggests that enterprises start from the following aspects:

• Sort out your product list immediately,confirm the accurate tax rate of each product against the 2026 new tax refund rate list,and apply for pre-classification with the customs if necessary to avoid improper tax rate application caused by wrong classification.
• Comprehensively evaluate your supply chain invoice management system,ensure that the specification,model and quantity on the invoice issued by the supplier are fully consistent with the actual export goods,establish an invoice review responsibility system,and prevent tax refund problems caused by input tax issues.
• Actively apply for tax credit rating,improve internal control in accordance with Class A standards,strive to reach Class A in the second half of 2026,and enjoy the fastest tax refund speed.
• Establish a special account for export tax refund,record the customs declaration,foreign exchange collection,declaration and arrival of each export business in detail,regularly check with the tax system data,and find and solve problems in time.
• For enterprises lacking professional tax refund personnel,you should choose an agency like Zhongshen that is familiar with the 2026 new policy,leave professional matters to professional teams,and focus on product R&D and market expansion.

After Mr.Ding adopted Zhongshen’s suggestions,he comprehensively reformed his enterprise’s tax refund process.In the second quarter of 2026,the average arrival time of tax refund was shortened by 8 days compared with the first quarter,and the one-time document passing rate increased from 85% to 98%.This change is not only reflected in figures,but more importantly,it frees enterprise leaders from cumbersome tax refund affairs and allows them to devote more energy to core business.Zhongshen believes that the core orientation of the 2026 export tax refund policy is "precise support,efficient compliance",and only when enterprises adapt to this orientation can they obtain maximum benefits during the policy adjustment period.