General

In the first year of 2023, the cross-border e-commerce industry will again usher in favorable policies. Recently, the Ministry of Finance, the General Administration of Customs and the State Administration of Taxation jointly issued the Announcement on the Tax Policy for Export Return Goods of Cross-border E-commerce (hereinafter referred to as the Announcement) to reduce the cost of export return of cross-border e-commerce enterprises and actively support the development of new forms of international trade.

The Announcement stipulates that the goods (excluding food) declared for export under the cross-border e-commerce customs supervision code (1210, 9610, 9710, 9810) within one year from the date of issuance of the Announcement and returned to the country in their original state due to unsalable and return reasons within six months from the date of export are exempt from import tariff, import value-added tax and consumption tax; The export tariff levied at the time of export is allowed to be refunded; The value-added tax and consumption tax levied at the time of export shall be implemented with reference to the relevant tax provisions on the return of domestic goods. The export tax refund handled shall be paid in accordance with the current regulations.

In recent years, China's cross-border e-commerce has flourished. According to the data of the General Administration of Customs, China's cross-border e-commerce international trade import and export will reach 2.11 trillion yuan in 2022, up 9.8%. Among them, export was 1.55 trillion yuan, up 11.7%, and import was 0.56 trillion yuan, up 4.9%. Cross-border e-commerce has become an important pillar of China's foreign trade development. However, the goods exported through cross-border e-commerce also have unsalable sales, return and exchange, and the problem of high cost of returning products to China also plagues cross-border e-commerce enterprises. The implementation of this policy will reduce the tax burden for enterprises.

"The tax refund and tax supplement policy launched by the General Administration of Customs and other departments will better solve the problem of the return of goods from overseas warehouses, For example, Amazon Logistics requires buyers to transport products to overseas warehouses in order to improve the efficiency of logistics distribution and improve the consumer experience of buyers. However, the goods in overseas warehouses may not all be sold successfully, and the e-commerce goods sold online in overseas warehouses also have a demand for return due to unsalable sales, consumer returns and other reasons.

Wang Jian analyzed, "In the past, due to the high cost of returning goods to China, sellers often had to sell these goods at a reduced price when they chose to deal with them overseas, which has brought a lot of losses to enterprises. If they can be transported back to China for export to domestic sales, this provides another option for enterprises to deal with the returned goods. This also fully reflects the continuous regulatory innovation of the trade regulatory authorities in recent years, and the introduction of various policies that are compatible with the new model and business form of foreign trade Policy and regulatory methods provide enterprises with more market options. "

Before that, China has also introduced policies and measures to facilitate the return and exchange of cross-border e-commerce exports, and has continued to smooth the return channel for cross-border e-commerce exports. In March 2020, the General Administration of Customs issued the Announcement on the Issues Related to the Comprehensive Promotion of the Supervision Measures for the Return of Export Commodities of Cross-border E-commerce, which proposed to comprehensively promote the supervision measures for the return of export commodities of cross-border e-commerce, so that cross-border e-commerce commodities can be exported and returned, and promote the healthy and rapid development of cross-border e-commerce export business. In September 2022, the "Several Policies and Measures to Support the Stable Development of Foreign Trade" issued by the Ministry of Commerce proposed to accelerate the introduction of tax policies to facilitate the return and exchange of goods for cross-border e-commerce exports.

"These policies will help the growth of cross-border e-commerce exports and accelerate the development of new forms of international trade," said Lan Qingxin, a professor of the National Institute of International Trade and Economics at the University of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation. According to the original regulations, the return of export goods will increase the operating costs of enterprises and restrict the power of enterprises to expand exports. The support given by the national fiscal and tax policies will effectively reduce the operating costs of cross-border e-commerce enterprises and reduce the worries of enterprises, thus promoting enterprises to actively explore the international trade market and expand export business, so that cross-border e-commerce enterprises can provide good goods and high-quality after-sales services, win the trust of overseas consumers, improve the market competitiveness of cross-border e-commerce enterprises, and promote the long-term development of enterprises Profit thickening has a great promoting effect.

The business director of Wenzhou Qilinyun Import and Export Co., Ltd. said, "The new policy will exempt the import tax of cross-border e-commerce goods returned to China, providing us with a new solution for dealing with unsalable goods and goods returned and exchanged, which is an effective way to reduce business risks and losses for enterprises, and injects great confidence into our development of cross-border e-commerce business."

Wang Jian said that it is reasonable that cross-border e-commerce exports should not pay import tariffs and import value-added tax when they return to China. The policy launched by the General Administration of Customs provides supporting policies and supervision methods for the global distribution services of cross-border e-commerce, and also solves various problems encountered by enterprises in the current cross-border e-commerce logistics and distribution.

In terms of specific operation, Lan Qingxin said that in the processing of returned goods, the customs, tax and other departments should provide high-quality tax refund services and guidance for enterprises, so that enterprises can better enjoy the preferential policies. The Announcement also requires that enterprises enjoy tax preferences in strict accordance with the policies and regulations. When applying for international trade import tax exemption and other procedures, enterprises need to provide relevant proof materials as required, and no illegal and illegal acts such as tax evasion and tax fraud are allowed.