On February 2 , China’s Ministry of Finance, General Administration of Customs and State Administration of Taxation jointly issued an announcement stating that within one year from the date of issuance of the notice, goods returned in their original state (excluding food) shall not be taxed.
The policy aims to reduce the tax burden on returned goods. According to the Announcement , eligible returned goods can be exempted from import duties, import value-added tax and consumption tax; The export duties already collected at the time of export shall be refunded, and the value-added tax and consumption tax collected at the time of export shall be implemented in accordance with the relevant tax provisions on the return of domestically sold goods, and the export tax rebate already handled by the enterprise shall be paid retroactively.
“According to the current regulations, except for the circumstances stipulated in Article 43 of the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Import and Export Tariffs, all goods returned to China for export shall be subject to import duties, value-added tax and consumption tax at the import stage. The policies introduced this time are conducive to reducing the export return costs of cross-border e-commerce enterprises, stabilizing their export expectations, and supporting the development of new foreign trade formats such as cross-border e-commerce and overseas warehouses. Li Xuhong, director of the Institute of Finance and Taxation Policy and Application of the National Accounting Institute in Beijing, said.
In terms of specific operation, according to the announcement, when applying for import tax exemption and other procedures, enterprises need to provide relevant supporting materials as required. Tax evasion, fraud and other violations of laws and regulations shall be dealt with in accordance with relevant national laws and regulations.
