Complete Guide to 2026 Trade Export Tax Refund Operation Procedures

2026 Trade Export Tax Refund Operation: Implementation Skills and Agency Services Under New Regulations

In the first half of 2026,the Ministry of Finance and the State Taxation Administration jointly issued the *Notice on Optimizing Export Tax Refund Policies*,making adjustments to core links of export tax refund such as tax refund rate,declaration time limit,and document management.Many managers of Shanghai foreign trade enterprises have reported that although the new regulations seem favorable,it is easy to make mistakes due to omissions in details in actual operation.As an agency company with over 20 years of deep experience in the industry,Zhongshen has sorted out the core of the policy,its impact on enterprises and implementation solutions based on its experience serving more than 1,000 enterprises.

I.Core Disassembly of 2026 New Export Tax Refund Regulations

This policy adjustment focuses on "precise tax refund + efficiency improvement",and the key points can be summarized into 3 aspects:

• Dynamic matching of tax refund rate with product upgrading: The tax refund rate for 12 categories of products such as electromechanical products and new energy vehicle parts has been increased from 13% to 16%,while that for traditional textile and apparel,plastic products remains at 11%.It should be noted that "the export commodity code (HS code) must be completely consistent with the ’tariff item number’ in the tax refund system",otherwise the adjusted tax rate cannot be applied.
• Declaration time limit reduced to 60 days: The original requirement of "declaration within 90 days after export" is cancelled,and it is replaced by "completion of electronic tax refund declaration within 60 days after the goods depart from the port".For those who fail to declare within the time limit,a "delayed declaration application" is required,and the approval period is extended from 15 days to 30 days.
• Electronic documents fully replace paper ones: The acceptance of paper customs declaration forms,special VAT invoices and export foreign exchange verification forms is stopped,and "electronic documents + blockchain deposit certificate" is fully implemented.Enterprises need to ensure that the signatures and seals on electronic documents are consistent with the "handler information" reserved in the tax system,otherwise the declaration will be invalid.

II.Opportunities and Challenges of the New Regulations for Export Enterprises

According to the actual feedback from served customers,the impact brought by the new regulations is two-way:

III.Zhongshen’s Tax Refund Agency Implementation Services

In response to the pain points in the implementation of the new regulations,Zhongshen relies on 20 years of industry experience to launch the "full-process tax refund agency solution",with core services including:

• Precise HS code matching: The export commodity code database is updated once a month,and the consistency between the product HS code and the tax refund system is checked for customers 3 days before customs declaration to avoid misapplication of tax refund rate;
• Time limit management system: A "tax refund declaration timeline" is established for each customer,and SMS + phone reminders are sent twice 30 days and 50 days after the goods depart from the port to ensure the declaration is completed within 60 days;
• Electronic document pre-verification: Assist customers to update the handler’s signature and seal information reserved in the tax system,and conduct pre-verification of electronic documents with the tax system before declaration,with a pass rate of 99%;
• Tax refund receipt tracking: Track the whole process from declaration to fund receipt.If there is a tax audit problem,a solution will be issued within 12 hours,and the average fund receipt time is shortened from 15 days under the old regulations to 8 days.

Mr.Jiang,general manager of an electronic product export enterprise in Shanghai,said: "After the new regulations were issued in 2026,our finance team was very worried about the 60-day time limit.After we hired Zhongshen as the agency,they reminded us of the declaration throughout the process.Last month,the RMB 5 million tax refund was received in 7 days,much faster than our own operation."

IV.Practical Operation Suggestions for Enterprises

In response to the 2026 new tax refund regulations,enterprises can immediately take one key action: Update the export commodity code database at the end of each quarter,and bind the tax refund operation authority of financial personnel with the consultant authority of Zhongshen -- this allows real-time access to code update information and avoids tax refund losses caused by code errors.