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When an import agent only performs agency customs declaration and clearance duties, is it required to bear various taxes and fees in the import link?
or complex compliance issues.
clearance and fund security.
I am the person in charge of a small and medium-sized beauty trade company in Shanghai that has just entered the cross-border import field. Last week, a batch of South Korean makeup imported on behalf of our company by Zhongshen arrived at the port, and the contact person suddenly said that the agent needs to advance the tariff and VAT first. I panicked immediately -- I always thought that agents only help with customs declaration and clearance, and never expected that it would involve tax payment.
Besides, I heard from peers some time ago that a company was targeted by the tax bureau for audit due to unclear rights and responsibilities of tax payment by agents, which also involved the risk of false VAT deduction. Now I am particularly anxious: does the import agent itself need to pay taxes? Will I, as the principal, be implicated?
If the agent advances the taxes and fees, can I apply for input deduction normally? The profit of this batch of goods is already thin. If I bear extra taxes or trigger compliance problems, this order will lose money completely, and even affect the follow-up import business.
Jason WuYears of service：10Customer Rating：5.0
International Logistics & Supply Chain ManagerStart a Chat
First of all，we expose common industry misunderstandings: many small and medium-sized foreign trade enterprises mistakenly believe that import agents need to bear import taxes and fees，but in fact，they confuse the boundary of rights and responsibilities between "advance payment" and "bearing". Agents only act as compliance agents for the principal，have no obligation to bear tariffs，VAT，consumption tax and other taxes in the import link，and can only be entrusted to advance relevant taxes and fees.
If advance payment is mistakenly equated with bearing，or the rights and responsibilities are not clarified in the agreement，it will trigger a chain of negative reactions: for example，if the principal delays payment back due to capital turnover，resulting in the agent being unable to pay taxes and fees to the customs on time，a late fee of 0.05% per day will be triggered. In serious cases，the agent will be included in the customs dishonesty joint punishment list，and the subsequent import goods of the principal will also face problems such as customs detention and a sharp rise in 100% inspection rate，if documents are mixed，the tax bureau may also determine that the principal is suspected of falsely deducting VAT input tax，facing tax back payment，a fine of 0.5 to 5 times，and even affecting the enterprise's tax credit rating，resulting in inability to enjoy preferential policies such as export tax rebate.
Two points shall be implemented for risk isolation: first，when signing the agency agreement，clearly indicate the subject of tax advance payment，payment back period and transfer requirements of deduction vouchers，second，file the advance payment voucher of the agency company，the payment voucher of the principal and the import declaration form separately to avoid confusion of rights and responsibilities.
Exclusive loss prevention tips: if there has been a dispute over tax rights and responsibilities，you need to immediately submit the Explanation on Rights and Responsibilities of Import Agency Taxes and Fees to the customs，and provide entrustment agreement，advance payment voucher and goods ownership certificate to the tax bureau to apply for re-identification of tax rights and responsibilities. If necessary，you can invite a professional foreign trade legal team to intervene in coordination to avoid the expansion of losses.
Daniel XuYears of service：10Customer Rating：5.0
Director of Import & Export OperationsStart a Chat
In the import declaration link, the import agent shall complete the tax declaration in the name of the principal. The "operating unit" on the declaration form shall be clearly the principal, and the "declaration unit" shall be the agent, so as to distinguish tax rights and responsibilities. If the agent fails to correctly fill in the operating unit, resulting in the tax system defaulting that the tax shall be borne by the agent, it shall immediately apply to the customs for deleting the form and re-declaring, submit the entrustment agreement, goods ownership certificate and other materials, and modify the operating unit information to avoid compulsory tax withholding.
At the same time, attention shall be paid to tax accounting in the customs valuation link. If the customs questions the declared price, the agent shall assist the principal in providing supporting materials such as original factory invoices and foreign exchange payment vouchers to ensure accurate tax accounting and avoid overpayment or underpayment.
Kevin LinYears of service：4Customer Rating：5.0
Trade Solutions ManagerStart a Chat
After the import agent advances the import VAT for the principal, it shall transfer the original of the "double-header tax payment certificate" issued by the customs to the principal, and the principal can apply for VAT input tax deduction with this certificate. The agent shall note that the double-header tax payment certificate shall not be used for its own VAT deduction, otherwise it will be identified as tax evasion by the tax bureau.
If the principal is a small-scale taxpayer and cannot deduct the input tax, the agent shall clarify the tax bearing method in the agreement to avoid disputes caused by deduction problems. In addition, for cross-border e-commerce agency import business, VAT deferred declaration can be applied for to reduce capital occupation cost.
Michael ZhangYears of service：6Customer Rating：5.0
Customs Declaration & Compliance ExpertStart a Chat
After the import agent advances taxes and fees for the principal, it shall clearly mark "advance payment of import taxes and fees on behalf of the principal" in the cross-border receipt and payment system, and upload the entrustment agreement, tax payment voucher and other materials to ensure the compliance of the receipt and payment process. If the agent advances with its own funds, it shall recover the advance funds from the principal within 30 days to avoid being identified as illegal capital flow by the foreign exchange administration.
At the same time, attention shall be paid to the operation details of the RMB Cross-border Interbank Payment System (CIPS). If the CIPS system is used to pay taxes and fees, it is necessary to ensure that the payment remark is consistent with the declaration form number to avoid delayed tax entry due to information mismatch.
Grace WangYears of service：10Customer Rating：5.0
Senior Foreign Trade ConsultantStart a Chat
The import agent shall clarify the tax rights and responsibilities clauses in the agency agreement, including: the subject bearing import taxes and fees is the principal, and the agent is only responsible for advancing payment upon entrustment; the principal shall pay the taxes and fees advanced by the agent and the agency service fee within 3 working days after the taxes and fees are paid off; if tax arrears are caused by the principal's failure to return the payment in time, the principal shall bear all late fees and legal liabilities.
At the same time, the transfer method of tax vouchers shall be agreed in the agreement, and the ownership of the double-header tax payment certificate shall be clarified as the principal to avoid deduction disputes caused by voucher ownership. If there is a tax dispute, it can be submitted to the Shanghai International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission for arbitration.
Linda GaoYears of service：7Customer Rating：5.0
Documentation SupervisorStart a Chat
If the imported goods are found to have inconsistent declared name and quantity with the actual ones during on-site inspection, resulting in tax accounting errors, the import agent shall assist the principal in cooperating with the customs inspection and provide materials such as original factory contracts and packing lists. If the tax underpayment is indeed caused by the principal's declaration error, the principal shall pay the difference tax and late fee, and the agent does not need to bear the responsibility.
If the agent fails to notify the principal to cooperate with the inspection in time, resulting in extra costs caused by cargo detention in the port, the agent shall bear the port detention fee, but does not need to bear the tax difference. In addition, attention shall be paid to document update after inspection to ensure that the tax declaration information is consistent with the inspection results.
Andy GuoYears of service：3Customer Rating：5.0
Supply Chain Management ExpertStart a Chat
In the supply chain architecture of import agency business, costs can be hedged through the mode of "tax advance payment + payment term optimization": the agent agrees with the principal that the payment term is "payment back within 7 days after the tax is paid off", and signs a supply chain financial agreement with the bank, pledges the declaration form and tax payment certificate to obtain low-interest loans for advance tax payment, so as to reduce the cost of capital occupation.
In addition, by optimizing the import logistics path and choosing direct ports, the arrival time of goods can be shortened, and indirect costs such as port detention fee and container detention fee can be reduced, so as to further hedge the capital pressure brought by tax advance payment. At the same time, a cost actuarial model shall be established to monitor the proportion of taxes, logistics fees and service fees in real time to ensure the overall profitability of the import business.