1.?Tax Refund?What are the official channels for inquiries?

The latest tax rebate inquiry system for 2025 has achieved full-process electronification. Enterprises can track it in real-time through the following 4 methods:

• Online inquiry at the e-Tax Bureau
  • Log in to the tax rebate module of the "China International Trade Single Window"
  • Use the E-port legal person card to check the real-time status
• Tax officer system
  • The agency needs to provide the enterprise's 18-digit social credit code
  • Detailed progress of each stage of the tax rebate audit can be obtained
• Data connection with the General Administration of Customs
  • The tax rebate system will be automatically pushed 72 hours after the customs declaration is cleared
  • Supports batch query of tax rebate matching status by customs declaration number
• Bank arrival reminder service
  • Enable SMS notification for the dedicated tax rebate account
  • The processing time of the National Treasury is shortened to within 3 working days (new policy in 2025)

II. What materials need to be prepared for entrusting an agent for tax rebates?

According to the revised version of the "Administrative Measures for Export Tax Refunds (Exemptions)" for 2025, attention should be paid to the following for agency tax rebate filing:

• Basic qualification documents
  • The agency agreement must specify the tax rebate rights and obligations of both parties
  • Provide a proof of dual consignor/consignee on the customs declaration
• New digital verification
  • Electronically signed contracts must be verified through the "XinYiQian" platform
  • The logistics track must be connected to the national logistics data hub
• Risk control materials
  • Provide credit investigation reports of upstream and downstream enterprises
  • Filing of cross-border RMB settlement vouchers (mandatory from 2025)

III. How to avoid common misconceptions in agency tax rebates?

Based on our experience in handling 300+ tax rebate dispute cases, special attention should be paid to:

• Misconception about the timeline
  • The new policy in 2025 stipulates that the declaration deadline is still before April 30 of the year following the export
  • But the document filing period is shortened to within 90 days after export
• Misconception about amount calculation
  • ?E-commerce?B2B exports can also enjoy the policies of the comprehensive pilot zone
  • Processing trade enterprises need to deduct the amount of bonded imported materials
• Misconception about responsibility division
  • The traceability period for joint liability for tax violations is extended to 10 years
  • The agent must retain a complete chain of evidence for the business chain

IV. How to choose a reliable tax rebate agency?

It is recommended to evaluate the agency's professionalism from the following 5 dimensions:

• System integration capability
  • Whether it is connected to the Golden Tax Phase IV big data monitoring system
  • Whether it can achieve customs declaration, logistics,?Forex Settlement?Automatic data matching
• Risk early warning mechanism
  • Whether a dynamic database of export commodity HS codes is established
  • Whether it can identify changes in the tax rebate classification management level in advance
• Regional service network
  • Whether branches are established in major port cities
  • Whether familiar with the differences in tax rebate policies for special supervision zones

(Note: The policy basis described in this article is the "Working Procedures for the Administration of Export Tax Refunds (Exemptions)" issued by the State Administration of Taxation in January 2025. Please refer to the requirements of the competent tax authority for specific operations. The case data in the text is derived from anonymous statistics of the author's service enterprises and does not involve commercial secrets.)