---
title: "Is Customs Declaration Fee Inevitable for Export Customs Declaration, What Core Items Are Included in the Specific Cost Composition?"
description: "Newly established small and medium-sized foreign trade traders often fall into cognitive misunderstandings due to unfamiliarity with the rules of customs declaration fees. They worry about being charged unreasonably，and also doubt whether the fees can be transferred or reduced. It should be clarified that customs declaration fees are not inevitable，and shall be determined according to the customs declaration subject and service mode. Part of the cost can be transferred through compliant methods，..."
url: "https://www.sh-zhongshen.com/en/qa/export-customs-declaration-fee-necessity-core-cost-components.html"
language: "en"
type: "Q&A"
category: "Customs Declaration Q&A"
datePublished: "2026-06-09"
dateModified: "2026-06-09"
brand: "Zhongshen Trading China"
answerCount: 7
---

# Is Customs Declaration Fee Inevitable for Export Customs Declaration, What Core Items Are Included in the Specific Cost Composition?

## Question

 I am the head of a newly established small and medium-sized foreign trade enterprise based in Shanghai. Last month, I exported a batch of customized household items to Germany by sea for the first time, and hired a freight forwarder to handle the customs declaration procedures. An extra RMB 860 of customs declaration fee suddenly appeared in the final settlement bill. I was in a hurry to ship the goods so I paid it without further investigation. Now I am going to export another batch of storage boxes to Japan, and I heard from peers that some enterprises never paid any customs declaration fees for their exports. I was totally confused — Did I get scammed by the freight forwarder? Besides, our company's cash flow is very tight now, can this customs declaration fee be transferred to the overseas buyer to bear? In addition, are there any specific situations where customs declaration fee can be fully exempted? The more I think about it, the more anxious I get. I am afraid of being overcharged again to increase our cost, and I am also afraid of messing up the payment rules that will affect the delivery timeline. Please clarify these issues for me! 

## Answers
                            
### Answer 1 — Best Answer

First of all，it should be clarified that customs declaration fee is not a fixed mandatory fee in the export link. A common misunderstanding under the traditional freight forwarder model is bundling the quotation of customs declaration service fee with customs administrative fee，which leads sellers to mistakenly think that the fee is unavoidable，and even be charged unreasonable miscellaneous fees such as "rush fee" and "document fee". In the long run，this will squeeze the profit margin of small and medium-sized sellers，and in serious cases，it may delay customs declaration due to fee disputes and trigger the risk of port detention.

For cost optimization，we can start from three paths: First is **Qualified Self-customs Declaration**. If an enterprise has the qualification for self-customs declaration，it only needs to bear a very small amount of customs administrative fee when completing the declaration by itself (in 2026，the customs exempts this fee for small，medium and micro enterprises with annual export volume below RMB 5 million)，and there is no need to pay the freight forwarder's customs declaration service fee，Second is **Compliant Cost Transfer**. It can be clearly agreed in the trade contract that the customs declaration fee is borne by the buyer，and the trade terms need to be adjusted accordingly (for example，add the clause of customs declaration fee bearing when changing FOB to CIF)，but it is necessary to ensure that the clause conforms to international trade practices，Third is **Apply for Fee Reduction or Exemption**. In 2026，the customs has implemented customs declaration fee reduction and exemption policies for eligible small，medium and micro enterprises and cross-border e-commerce B2B export mode，and enterprises need to submit enterprise scale certificate and export mode filing materials to the customs in advance.

In terms of access thresholds，self-customs declaration requires registration of the customs declaration unit，which takes about 3 working days，for fee reduction and exemption，filing materials need to be submitted 10 working days in advance. Calculated based on 10 export declarations per year，self-customs declaration or cost transfer can save 600-1000 RMB per declaration，and the annual optimized cost is about 6000-10000 RMB，which brings significant benefits to small and medium-sized enterprises with tight cash flow.

**status:** accepted
**Author:** Cindy Chen
**Date:** 2026-06-09

### Answer 2

Customs declaration fee is divided into two parts: customs administrative fee and customs declaration service fee. In 2026, customs administrative fee is only charged to enterprises with annual export volume above RMB 5 million, at a rate of RMB 15 per declaration form. Small, medium and micro enterprises can apply for exemption with the annual export volume certificate.

It should be noted that some freight forwarders bundle the quotation of customs declaration service fee with pre-entry fee and manifest transmission fee. In fact, these fees are already included in the basic service fee of the freight forwarder, which is duplicate charging.

If an enterprise has an objection to the customs declaration fee, it can require the freight forwarder to provide the administrative fee ticket issued by the customs, or query the cost details of the declaration form through the single window. If illegal charging is found, it can complain to the customs supervision department to avoid the declaration form being put on hold due to fee disputes, which will affect the credit rating of subsequent export businesses.

**status:** suggested
**Author:** Victor Sun
**Date:** 2026-06-09

### Answer 3

The payment node of customs declaration fee needs to be synchronized with the logistics link. If the mode of prepaying the freight forwarder's fee is adopted, the payment shall be made after the customs declaration is completed and the cost details are verified, so as to avoid cost loss caused by the freight forwarder failing to complete the customs declaration as agreed. In case of abnormal logistics such as container skipping and space congestion, the incurred customs declaration fee can be applied for partial reduction or exemption according to the provisions of the freight forwarder service contract.

If the customs declaration delay causes port storage fee due to the freight forwarder's operational error, the freight forwarder can be required to bear the double loss of port storage fee and customs declaration fee. In addition, when choosing a direct shipping route, the customs declaration fee can be settled together with the manifest transmission fee, which can save about 10%-15% of additional fees compared with a transit route. At the same time, it is necessary to ensure that the information on the declaration form and the manifest are consistent, so as to avoid repeated collection of customs declaration fee due to inconsistent information.

**status:** suggested
**Author:** Linda Gao
**Date:** 2026-06-09

### Answer 4

In 2026, the customs declaration service fee in export customs declaration fees can be deducted from value-added tax as input tax. It is necessary to obtain a special value-added tax invoice issued by the freight forwarder, and the remark column of the invoice should indicate the declaration form number, transportation mode and other information of the export goods. If the VAT deferred mode is adopted for export, the customs declaration fee can be included in the dutiable value of the export goods, enjoying the tax preference of VAT deferral, and there is no need to prepay value-added tax in the export link, which further optimizes cash flow.

It should be noted that if the customs declaration fee is transferred to the overseas buyer, it is necessary to clarify the attribution of the fee in the pricing of cross-border related party transactions, so as to avoid transfer pricing investigation by tax authorities caused by unreasonable pricing. At the same time, trade contracts, cost sharing agreements and other reference materials need to be retained to ensure tax compliance.

**status:** suggested
**Author:** Lucas Liu
**Date:** 2026-06-09

### Answer 5

If the customs declaration fee is transferred to the overseas buyer, it is necessary to clearly mark "Customs Declaration Fee" in the SWIFT message, and the amount of the fee must be consistent with the agreement in the trade contract, so as to avoid being included in the foreign exchange supervision warning list due to unclear purpose of payment and receipt. In 2026, when paying customs declaration fee via cross-border RMB, it can be settled directly through the CIPS system without foreign exchange purchase operation, saving about 0.1%-0.3% of the exchange rate difference cost.

In addition, if an offshore account is used to pay the customs declaration fee, it is necessary to ensure that the capital source of the offshore account is compliant export foreign exchange receipt, so as to avoid compliance investigation by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange due to unknown capital source. At the same time, materials such as customs declaration fee payment vouchers and trade contracts need to be retained for spot checks by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.

**status:** suggested
**Author:** Grace Wang
**Date:** 2026-06-09

### Answer 6

When agreeing on the bearer of customs declaration fee in the trade contract, it is necessary to clarify the details such as the specific composition of the fee, payment node, and dispute resolution method, so as to avoid subsequent disputes caused by vague clauses. If the FOB trade term is adopted, the customs declaration fee is defaulted to be borne by the seller. If the fee needs to be transferred, a clear clause of "The seller is responsible for customs declaration, and the fee is borne by the buyer" needs to be added to the contract, and the invoice amount needs to be adjusted accordingly, with the customs declaration fee listed separately.

In addition, if the freight forwarder illegally collects unreasonable customs declaration fee, the enterprise can complain to the industry association according to the *Provisions on Administration of International Freight Forwarding Industry*, or protect rights through legal channels such as arbitration and litigation. It is necessary to retain evidence materials such as the freight forwarder's quotation, settlement bill and communication records to ensure that the claim is supported by law.

**status:** suggested
**Author:** Kevin Lin
**Date:** 2026-06-09

### Answer 7

Export customs declaration fee needs to be documented as a sales expense of export goods for filing. In 2026, the export tax refund audit requires that the information of the customs declaration fee payment voucher, freight forwarder invoice and customs declaration form must be consistent. If there is inconsistent information, it will affect the application approval rate of export tax refund.

If an enterprise applies for customs declaration fee reduction or exemption, the exemption certificate issued by the customs needs to be included in the tax refund filing materials, to avoid failure of tax refund audit due to incomplete materials. In addition, if the customs declaration fee is transferred to the overseas buyer, the transfer of the fee needs to be indicated in the export tax refund declaration form, and the corresponding foreign exchange receipt amount must include the customs declaration fee amount, to ensure the consistency of the four flows (cargo flow, capital flow, invoice flow, information flow) and meet the compliance requirements of export tax refund.

**status:** suggested
**Author:** Evelyn Li
**Date:** 2026-06-09

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