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What Core Compliance Documents and Materials Need to Be Prepared for the First On-site Tax Verification for Export Tax Refund?
or complex compliance issues.
clearance and fund security.
I am the head of a small and micro enterprise that has just been engaged in foreign trade for 6 months in Shanghai. Last month, I exported two batches of women's clothing to Hamburg, Germany for the first time via sea freight LCL (Less than Container Load). Now the tax bureau suddenly notified that it will come to my company for an on-site export tax refund verification next week, I am really panicked!
I used to ask a part-time accountant to handle the documents, and I only have a smattering of knowledge about the whole process of tax refund. Last week, I heard from peers that an enterprise was suspended from tax refund for 3 months and even fined because it failed the verification. Now I have no idea what core materials I should prepare in advance, how to respond standardly to the professional questions from tax staff on site.
If there is a small difference in the gross weight of the goods on the customs declaration and the logistics document, will it be directly identified as non-compliant and the tax refund be blocked? Besides, the foreign exchange collection slip was delayed for a few days due to a problem with the banking system, will that affect the verification result?
Kevin LinYears of service：4Customer Rating：5.0
Trade Solutions ManagerStart a Chat
First of all，you need to complete the detailed review of pre-document preparation，focusing on verifying the core certificates of "consistency of four flows": ensure that the product name，quantity，amount，and shipper/consignee information on the customs declaration，special VAT invoice，export cargo list，and foreign exchange collection slip are completely matched. Pay special attention to the consistency between the split bill data and the master bill of LCL goods. For the gross weight difference you mentioned，you need to prepare a weight difference explanation issued by the freight forwarder in advance，for delayed foreign exchange collection，you need to provide the system failure certificate issued by the bank or the delayed foreign exchange collection filing form.
Do a good job in on-site connection for core nodes: sort out and file documents in advance，bind them into four categories: "basic qualification，transaction documents，logistics documents，foreign exchange collection certificates"，arrange full-time personnel familiar with the business to respond on site，and avoid random replies from non-business personnel. When responding，you should closely follow the content of the documents，do not add irrelevant information at will. If you are asked about business details，you should accurately point to the corresponding position of the document.
You need to preset emergency plans for abnormal situations: if any document defect is found on site，explain the situation to the tax staff immediately and submit written explanation and supporting materials，never conceal or fabricate reasons，if you are required to supplement materials，submit them within the specified time limit，and keep the express receipt or signing record of the submitted certificates at the same time.
Notes for final compliance implementation: after the verification，take the initiative to ask for the verification opinion form，confirm whether there are any items that need rectification，complete and feed back the rectification within the time limit if required，and file and keep all verification-related materials for at least 5 years，so that they can be accessed at any time for subsequent tax spot checks.
Daniel XuYears of service：10Customer Rating：5.0
Director of Import & Export OperationsStart a Chat
It is necessary to focus on verifying the compliance of the customs declaration, ensure that the fields such as export port, trade mode, and exemption nature of the customs declaration are consistent with the actual business. For LCL goods, you need to confirm that the customs declaration information of the split bill is completely consistent with the master bill, so as to avoid triggering verification risks due to wrong fields on the customs declaration.
If the customs declaration has been modified or deleted and re-declared, you need to prepare the customs declaration modification/cancellation decision issued by the customs in advance, explain the modification reason to the tax staff, ensure that the customs declaration information is completely consistent with the tax refund declaration data. At the same time, you need to pay attention to the logical matching between the export date on the customs declaration and the invoicing date of the special VAT invoice, to avoid the abnormal situation that the invoice date is later than the export date.
Grace WangYears of service：10Customer Rating：5.0
Senior Foreign Trade ConsultantStart a Chat
You need to sort out the tax compliance logic of export tax refund in advance, ensure that the exported goods meet the tax refund conditions, focus on verifying whether the issuance of the special VAT invoice is compliant, and the product name, specification and model on the invoice must be completely consistent with the customs declaration. If the product name is simplified, you need to provide a product name correspondence description approved by the customs.
At the same time, confirm the compliance of foreign exchange collection. If there is delayed foreign exchange collection, you need to file for delayed foreign exchange collection with the State Administration of Foreign Exchange in advance, to avoid being identified as non-compliance due to the foreign exchange collection time limit. In addition, you need to verify whether the enterprise's input tax deduction complies with the regulations, to avoid the situation that the input tax is not transferred out in time.
Eric ZhouYears of service：6Customer Rating：5.0
Senior Manager of Foreign Exchange & Tax RebatesStart a Chat
It is necessary to focus on verifying the compliance of foreign exchange collection certificates, ensure that the payer on the foreign exchange collection slip is consistent with the overseas consignee on the customs declaration.
If there is third-party payment, you need to prepare the relevant certification documents of the overseas consignee and the third-party payer in advance, such as entrusted payment agreement, parent-subsidiary company certificate, etc. At the same time, verify the declaration information of foreign exchange receipt and payment, ensure that the foreign exchange receipt and payment data in the foreign exchange monitoring system is consistent with the tax refund declaration data. If there is a data difference, you need to prepare the difference description and supporting materials in advance, to avoid triggering compliance risks due to abnormal foreign exchange receipt and payment data.
Victor SunYears of service：5Customer Rating：5.0
Trade Risk Control ManagerStart a Chat
It is necessary to establish a complete document filing system, file and keep the purchase and sales contracts of export goods, customs declarations, logistics documents, foreign exchange collection slips and other documents, to ensure the authenticity, legality and relevance of the documents. You need to conduct an internal audit of the documents in advance, focus on verifying the "consistency of four flows", and supplement and improve the documents in time if any document defect is found.
At the same time, pay attention to the retention period of the documents, which must be kept for at least 5 years, to avoid failing to pass the verification due to loss or damage of documents. In addition, you need to verify the accuracy of the tax refund declaration data, ensure that the declared tax refund amount is consistent with the actual tax refund amount, and avoid over-reporting or under-reporting of tax refund.
Michael ZhangYears of service：6Customer Rating：5.0
Customs Declaration & Compliance ExpertStart a Chat
If the tax staff require on-site inspection of the goods or inventory, you need to prepare the inventory ledger and in-out warehouse records of the goods in advance, ensure that the product name and quantity of the inventory goods are consistent with the customs declaration. If the goods have been out of the warehouse, you need to provide the goods outbound certificate issued by the logistics enterprise, transportation certificate and other supporting materials.
At the same time, pay attention to the site specification for on-site inspection, ensure that the goods are stacked neatly and marked clearly, which is convenient for tax staff to inspect. If the goods are entrusted processing products, you need to provide entrusted processing contracts, qualification certificates of the processing enterprise and other materials, to ensure the compliance of the entrusted processing business.
Lucas LiuYears of service：8Customer Rating：5.0
Senior Operations ConsultantStart a Chat
It is necessary to focus on verifying the compliance of the export purchase and sales contract, ensure that the product name, quantity, amount, delivery method and other clauses in the contract are consistent with the customs declaration and invoice. If the contract is modified or supplemented, you need to provide a supplementary agreement signed and sealed by both parties, to avoid triggering compliance risks due to inconsistency between contract clauses and documents.
At the same time, verify the payment clauses in the contract, ensure that the foreign exchange collection time limit meets the tax requirements. If there is a deferred payment clause, you need to file with the State Administration of Foreign Exchange in advance. In addition, ensure that the signing subject of the contract is consistent with the consignor/consignee on the customs declaration, if there is an agency export situation, you need to provide the agency export agreement.