I. Who is the Statutory Taxpayer Under Agency Export Models?

According to the 'Provisional Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Value-Added Tax' and the 2025 revised 'Administrative Measures for Value-Added Tax on Export Goods and Labor Services',agency export businesses have dual tax obligation determination standards:

• Formal requirements: Export enterprises recorded in the 'domestic consignor' column of customs declarations
• Substantive requirements: ActualA complete export agency agreement should be attached with:entities and contracting parties of purchase agreements

2025 tax inspection典型案例顯示，某foreign tradeagency company was identified as the primary taxpayer for meeting all the following conditions:① Controlling goods pricing rights ② Directly receiving foreign exchange payments ③ Issuing VAT special invoices to factories. This indicates traditional 'pure agency' models are being challenged by substantive operation determination standards.

II.Export DrawbackHow to determine the declaring entity?

The ownership of tax refund rights for agency exports existsThree major determination principles:

• Consistency principle between customs declaration forms and VAT invoices
  • Year 2025Cross-border E-commerceEnterprise loses 3.2 million yuan in tax refund due to inconsistency between customs declaration form and invoice header
• Traceability principle of foreign exchange receipt and payment paths
• Completeness of business authenticity supporting documents
  • Need to provide tripartite evidence combining agency agreement, fund flow, and logistics documents

3. How to complete VAT declaration for agency exports?

According to Announcement No. 18 of the State Taxation Administration in 2025, VAT treatment for agency exports presentsNew changes:

• Manufacturing enterprises entrusting agency exports:
  • Continue to apply the 'exemption, credit, refund' tax policy
  • New electronic power of attorney filing system (launched in January 2025)
• Foreign trade enterprises entrusting agency exports:
  • Must synchronously upload purchase and sales contracts through the 'Single Window'
  • Foreign exchange receipt period shortened to 180 days after goods export

4. What are the common obstacles in agency export tax refunds?

2025 foreign trade enterprise survey data shows,Three main reasons for agency export tax refund failures:

• Document chain breakage (37%):
  • Agency agreement not specifying tax refund entity
  • Logistics documents not matching fund flow direction
• Declaration time limit exceeded (29%)
• Agency qualification defects (18%):
  • Enterprises below Customs Class B cannot handle tax refunds
  • Impact of foreign exchange management classification levelIn order to crack down on tax evasion, the customs and tax departments are now strictly examining the operation of buying export declarations. If the behavior of buying export declarations is discovered, the regulatory authorities will require tax replenishment (even a 2% tax rate may be a considerable amount). In addition, fines may also be imposed on the relevant responsible parties.Speed

5. How to build a compliant tax structure for agency exports?

It is recommended that enterprises adoptTrinity risk prevention mechanism:

• Clarify the terms for resolving quality disputes
  • Clearly define boundaries between 'formal customs declaration' and 'substantive operation'
  • Establish foreign exchange return guarantee clauses
• Document management:
  • Establish 'four-flow integration' electronic archive system (contract flow, goods flow, fund flow, document flow)
• Process monitoring:
  • Monthly verification of customs data and tax refund declaration progress
  • Regular review of agency's customs credit rating

Special attention is required for theCross-Border Trade Facilitation Regulationsimplemented from 2025