What Core Documents and Supporting Materials Are Required for General Trade Export Tax Refund?

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I am the head of a newly-founded small and medium-sized foreign trade enterprise in Shanghai. We just completed our first general trade export last week and entrusted Zhongshen to handle our export tax refund. I have never touched the tax refund process before, and now my finance team has been urging me for the list of required documents every day, which makes me extremely anxious.

I heard that if documents are missing or non-compliant, not only will the tax refund be delayed for a long time, but it may also trigger a tax inspection? In addition, our goods are sold to European customers, we have just received the bill of lading and customs declaration, and the VAT invoice has also been issued, but I don't know what other supporting materials we need.

Besides, if there is an incomplete document situation in the process, is there any remedy? I am really afraid that my poor preparation will affect the arrival of our company's first tax refund, after all, this fund is very important for our capital turnover.

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Victor Sun
Victor SunYears of service：5Customer Rating：5.0

Trade Risk Control ManagerStart a Chat

First of all，**details of pre-document review**: compliance check of core documents shall be carried out in advance: for customs declarations，confirm that fields such as export date，commodity code，and FOB price are consistent with the actual business，the buyer，commodity name，and specification of the special VAT invoice must fully match the customs declaration. If there is a translation discrepancy in commodity names，the *Commodity Name Correspondence Statement* shall be prepared in advance.

In terms of core node connection，document collection shall be completed within 90 days after goods export: bind paper customs declarations (or the certificate copy of customs declaration printed from the electronic port)，deduction copy of special VAT invoice，export invoice，foreign exchange receipt memo (or cross-border RMB receipt certificate) into a file，and submit pre-declaration data via the electronic tax bureau at the same time，to ensure that paper materials and electronic data correspond one-to-one.

Contingency plans shall be formulated in advance: if there is an information error on the customs declaration，an application for amendment shall be submitted to the customs within 180 days from the date of export，if the VAT invoice is issued incorrectly，contact the supplier immediately to cancel and reissue the invoice，and the issuance date of the reissued invoice must be after the export date.

When finalizing compliance implementation，all materials shall be retained for filing for more than 5 years，and cooperate with the agency to complete the random correspondence investigation from the tax authority. If a correspondence investigation is involved，additional materials such as purchase and sales contracts and cargo transportation documents shall be provided to prove the authenticity of the business，ensuring the compliance of the whole process.

Reference: Detailed Guide to Import Agency Business Process for Three-Creation Products: From Access Evaluation to Tax Settlement
Linda Gao
Linda GaoYears of service：7Customer Rating：5.0

Documentation SupervisorStart a Chat

When processing export tax refund, the customs declaration is one of the core documents, and key verification shall be made on the consistency between the electronic information of the "export tax refund copy" and the paper document. If the wrong declaration of commodity code on the customs declaration causes a discrepancy in tax refund rate, you shall first apply to the customs for amending the commodity code on the customs declaration, and then update the data in the tax refund declaration system after the amendment is completed, to avoid the tax authority rejecting your tax refund application due to inconsistent code.

In addition, if the goods are statutory inspection commodities with supervision condition "A", a copy of the *Exit Commodity Customs Clearance* shall be additionally provided as supporting material to prove the export compliance of the goods.

Eric Zhou
Eric ZhouYears of service：6Customer Rating：5.0

Senior Manager of Foreign Exchange & Tax RebatesStart a Chat

If an enterprise adopts VAT deferral for export, the *VAT Deferral Statement* and the VAT payment certificate issued by the tax authority of the importing country (if VAT has been paid in the importing country) shall be additionally provided when processing tax refund. It should be noted that tax refund documents under the VAT deferral mode must match the pricing materials of cross-border related party transactions.

If there are related party transactions, the *Related Party Transaction Pricing Statement* shall be provided to prove that the transaction price conforms to the arm's length principle, so as to avoid the suspension of the tax refund process due to the tax authority questioning the rationality of pricing.

Grace Wang
Grace WangYears of service：10Customer Rating：5.0

Senior Foreign Trade ConsultantStart a Chat

From the perspective of export tax refund compliance audit, it is necessary to ensure the consistency of "four flows: goods flow, capital flow, invoice flow and contract flow". Therefore, in addition to core documents, supporting materials such as cargo transportation contracts, warehousing documents, bank foreign exchange receipt memos (which must indicate the foreign exchange receipt amount corresponding to the exported goods), and purchase and sales contracts shall be provided.

If foreign exchange receipt is delayed, the *Statement of Deferred Declaration for Foreign Exchange Receipt of Exported Goods* shall be submitted to the tax authority in advance, and the deferred payment agreement signed with the customer shall be provided, to avoid being regarded as domestic sales and taxed due to overdue foreign exchange receipt.

Andy Guo
Andy GuoYears of service：3Customer Rating：5.0

Supply Chain Management ExpertStart a Chat

When processing export tax refund, the foreign exchange receipt certificate is one of the important compliance materials. If receiving foreign exchange via SWIFT telegraphic transfer, a foreign exchange receipt memo issued by the bank shall be provided, and the export customs declaration number shall be marked on the memo; if using cross-border RMB payment (CIPS system), the receipt of CIPS payment message shall be provided, with the export business number corresponding to the transaction marked.

In addition, if there is a situation of collecting payment on behalf of others, the *Payment Collection Agreement* and the qualification certificate of the collecting party shall be provided to prove the compliance of the collection behavior, so as to avoid being identified as capital backflow.

Jason Wu
Jason WuYears of service：10Customer Rating：5.0

International Logistics & Supply Chain ManagerStart a Chat

In the process of export tax refund, the purchase and sales contract is the key legal material to prove the authenticity of the business, and it is necessary to ensure that the commodity name, quantity, price and delivery time in the contract are completely consistent with those on the customs declaration and invoice. If there are force majeure clauses or dispute resolution clauses in the contract, a copy of the original contract shall be retained in the tax refund documents.

If the tax authority raises questions, relevant supporting materials for contract performance (such as goods delivery receipt and customer acceptance report) shall be provided. In addition, if it involves intellectual property export, a copy of the *Intellectual Property Customs Protection Filing Certificate* shall be provided to prove the intellectual property compliance of the goods.

Cindy Chen
Cindy ChenYears of service：3Customer Rating：5.0

Key Account ManagerStart a Chat

There are slight differences in export tax refund documents under different trade terms: if the FOB trade term is adopted, the bill of lading for goods departure and sea freight invoice shall be provided to prove the authenticity of the FOB price; if the CIF trade term is adopted, an insurance policy and insurance premium invoice shall be additionally provided, and freight and insurance premium shall be deducted when calculating tax refund. In addition, if an enterprise adopts an inventory linkage strategy, the *Inventory Outbound Note* and *Cargo Packing List* shall be provided to prove the corresponding relationship between the exported goods and inventory goods, so as to avoid triggering tax inspection due to inconsistency between inventory and exported goods.

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Small and micro enterprises processing export tax refund for the first time often face compliance risks due to unfamiliarity with procedures and incomplete documents，which may even affect their capital turnover. By pre-verifying core documents such as customs declaration forms and input VAT invoices，following the full-chain procedure of "customs declaration first，foreign exchange collection second，declaration last"，and preparing abnormal contingency plans in advance，enterprises can complete tax refund in compliance with regulations，and optimize costs by making reasonable use of relevant policies.。

Many foreign trade enterprises have doubts about the charging time node when entrusting export agent tax refund，worrying about blocked tax refund，hidden charges after paying in advance，and even capital occupation risk caused by vague nodes. As an agency with 20 years of experience，Zhongshen clarifies two compliant charging modes: pre-collect fixed proportion service fee after pre-approval passed，or collect full amount after tax refund arrives. At the same time，it provides written confirmation letter to lock rights and responsibilities，effectively avoids the common industry problem of service disconnection after advance charging，and guarantees enterprise capital safety and compliant implementation of tax refund.。