On February 1, 2026, the new export tax rebate management regulations issued by the State Administration of Taxation officially came into effect.
This reform focuses on three core measures: extending the declaration deadline, optimizing the filing process, and simplifying form filling, bringing real tax processing conveniences to foreign trade companies. Most companies can achieve “senseless switching” between the old and new policies. While reducing costs and increasing efficiency, it also provides a solid institutional guarantee for the high-quality development of the foreign trade industry.
The core change of the new regulations is firstly reflected in the substantial relaxation of the declaration period, which extends the export tax refund and tax declaration period from the original 180 days to 36 months, leaving more ample time for enterprises to handle taxes.
The tax department has clarified that export business that has not been declared within the deadline must pay value-added tax as domestic sales. This adjustment not only alleviates the tax refund pressure on enterprises due to long document collection cycles, but also further standardizes collection and management through long-term constraints and reduces the space for illegal operations.
In view of the pain points of changes in enterprise registration information, the new regulations introduce flexible measures of “handle first and make up later”.
When an enterprise needs to modify the tax refund filing type and other information due to business adjustments, it can immediately submit a change application to the electronic tax bureau, and then submit relevant supporting documents. This greatly shortens the business processing time, which is especially beneficial to foreign trade enterprises that need to quickly adjust their business strategies, allowing them to focus more on market development.
The simplification of form filling directly improves the efficiency of declaration.
By deleting redundant fields and adding columns for key information, the new system reduces the number of filing forms by about one-third and the number of reported data items by one-fifth.
The system automatically imports data for production enterprises’ tax exemption, credit and refund declarations. There is no need to manually select special business types. Some enterprises have reported that business that used to require filling out four forms can now be completed with only two forms, and the tax processing efficiency has been significantly improved.
After the new regulations are implemented, the sense of gain for foreign trade companies is directly reflected in capital turnover and operating costs.
At present, the average processing time for export tax refunds in many places has been reduced to three working days, nearly 50% faster than before, and the speed of corporate capital withdrawal has been greatly accelerated.
At the same time, the tax department relies on big data technology to promote “contactless” tax processing and electronic certificate issuance. Enterprises can complete tax refund declarations without leaving home, significantly reducing labor and time costs, and the tax processing experience continues to be optimized.
This export tax rebate reform adheres to the two-pronged approach of “simplifying processes + strengthening regulations”, which not only accurately solves the blocking and difficult issues in corporate tax processing, but also guides foreign trade companies to standardize their operations through clear collection and management requirements, providing a solid institutional guarantee for the long-term and healthy development of the foreign trade industry.
The State Administration of Taxation has also made it clear that it will continue to optimize tax services in the future and promote the implementation of more enterprise-friendly policies.
It is worth noting that while releasing convenience dividends, the new regulations also place higher requirements on the compliance operations of enterprises. They are not “laissez-faire” relaxations, but precise empowerment within a standardized framework.
The tax department has clarified that export goods must complete tax refund or tax exemption declarations from the month following the customs declaration to April 30 of the following year, and must collect foreign exchange in accordance with regulations. Enterprises that have not collected foreign exchange must provide relevant materials in a timely manner, otherwise the tax refund process will be affected.
If an enterprise gives up the tax refund, it will not be allowed to apply for tax refund or tax exemption again within 36 months. This regulation further strengthens the enterprise’s compliance awareness.
At the same time, the big data network verification mechanism of the customs, taxation, and foreign exchange management departments has been fully implemented, realizing the “four-stream consistent” verification of customs declarations, contracts, invoices, and exchange settlement vouchers, completely blocking the gray channel of “paying for exports,” and allowing foreign trade companies operating in compliance with regulations to have a fairer market environment.
Taxation departments in Dalian, Shenzhen and other places have implemented classified and graded tax refund mechanisms to open up a “green channel” for companies with good credit. Some companies can achieve “declaration on the same day and payment on the next day”, and policy dividends can be accurately delivered to high-quality companies.
The new regulations are also linked to the foreign trade support policies previously issued by the Ministry of Commerce. The Ministry of Commerce has clearly combined the optimization of the export tax rebate process with strengthening trade financing support, and encourages financial institutions to promote the “credit insurance + guarantee + bank” financing model, which will work together with the acceleration of tax rebates to alleviate the financial pressure on foreign trade companies, especially small, medium and micro foreign trade companies.
The rapid return of tax rebate funds allows companies to have more funds to prepare materials for production, explore international markets, and even have the confidence to undertake high-quality orders with long payment periods and large amounts, thereby enhancing their competitiveness in the international market.
For foreign trade companies, if they want to fully enjoy the dividends of the new regulations, they need to adapt their internal management.
Enterprises can establish a 36-month aging warning table for export business, mark the customs declaration export date and tax refund declaration deadline for each business, and set early warning reminders to avoid overdue declarations due to negligence; the financial department needs to strengthen the linkage with the business department to ensure that the information in customs declaration, invoicing, foreign exchange collection and other aspects is consistent and meets the requirements of big data verification; at the same time, pay close attention to the dynamic adjustment of the tax refund rate, and timely optimize product quotations and cost accounting models.
In the current global economic environment, the foreign trade industry is facing many challenges. The implementation of the new export tax rebate regulations is an important measure for the country to make precise efforts to stabilize foreign trade.
From process simplification to efficiency improvement, from capital burden reduction to environmental optimization, a series of measures have made it easier for foreign trade companies to carry out operations.
With the continued release of policy dividends and the continuous improvement of supporting services in various places, the vitality of foreign trade market entities will be further stimulated and my country’s foreign trade industry will be driven steadily and long-term on the road of high-quality development.
